00:00Why is the ice on Mount Everest Earth's highest point melting?
00:03A team of daring scientists is racing to find out.
00:06They're heading to the Western Common Nepal, one of the most intense parts of Everest,
00:10where snow appears to be melting even though the air temperature is below freezing.
00:14Their theory? Meltwater is refreezing in a way that actually warms the glacier from within
00:20pushing it dangerously close to melting. And if that's true, it could be happening
00:24across the entire Himalaya. This is no ordinary expedition.
00:28They'll be camping on ice at over 6,400 meters, battling sub-zero temperatures,
00:34and the treacherous Kambi Icefall. Their goal? Drill deep into the
00:38glacier to take temperature readings no one has ever captured before.
00:41It's risky, it's physically brutal, and it could reveal how climate change is
00:47rewriting the future for millions who rely on Himalayan water.
00:50This may be the most important Everest expedition in two decades, and it's just beginning.
00:55NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
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