Litter at the Top of the W

orldS

pringboard 6

Mountains are some of the most beautiful places on Earth. But mountains are suffering from litter left by climbers and hikers. Read this exposition to learn about the history of mountain climbing. Learn about the litter problem and what some people are doing to fight it.

Other Expositions (Proposition/Support) in Springboard 6:

Cars! Cars! Cars! The Polar Bear Problem

Litter at the Top of the World

Written by Bronwyn Tainui

Litter at the Top of the World

Written by Bronwyn Tainui Cover images of rubbish left by expeditions at Mt Everest base camp in Nepal (background), and a mountain climberPhotography by Corbis/Tranz (p5, p7, p10, pp26–29, p34, pp37–38); Getty Images (PatitucciPhoto cover climber, Robb Kendrick p1, Paula Bronstein p18, Karen Kasmauski p25, Kei Uesugi p32, Erin Patrice O'Brien p33, Superstudio p35); Photolibrary (cover background, pp16-17, p22); StockCentral (p31); The Granger Collection, New York (p13); Corbis (p20); GoodShoot (p11)

© 2007 Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

While every care has been taken to trace and acknowledge copyright, the publishers tender their apologies for any accidental infringement where copyright has proved untraceable.

Published byMacmillan Education Australia Pty LtdLevel 1, 15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra, Victoria 3141www.macmillan.com.au

Edited by Adrian BellDesigned by Andrew AguilarPrinted in Hong Kong 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN: 978-1-4202-6194-3

Introduction .......................................4

The First Mountain Climbers ...........6

Mt Everest .........................................8

On Top of the World ....................... 10

Mountain Climbing Today .............. 14

Rubbish Left Behind ....................... 16

Fujisan .............................................20

Clean-Up Programs .........................27

Leave Only Footprints .....................33

Glossary ...........................................39

Index ................................................40

Contents

Litter at the Top of the World

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Introduction

People have always loved to look at mountains. Their icy peaks tower high into the sky, reminding us that the world is big and that people are tiny. Mountain ranges and highlands cover a quarter of Earth’s land surface. There are mountains on every continent. The largest mountain ranges are so big that astronauts can see them as they orbit Earth.

Mountains are dangerous and difficult places to live, freezing cold, and often swept by furious storms. It is hard to grow crops on their steep, rocky slopes. But there have always been people living on mountain ranges. The people of the Andes Mountains, in South America, learned how to build terraced farms, so that they could grow crops on slopes. The Sherpa people of Nepal live on the highest mountains on the planet. Life in the mountains is hard, and the people who live there are tough.

In such high, wild places, it is hard to believe that there could be a littering problem. But in fact, a lot of the world’s famous mountains are covered in rubbish. The litter not only spoils their natural beauty, but can also destroy the mountain environment. This, in turn, can have serious effects on people living in towns and cities, even those who live far away from mountains. It is time to make people aware of this problem, and to do something about it.

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Even in the highest places in the world, there is a litter problem.

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ANTARCTICA

AFRICA

AUSTRALIA

EUROPEASIA

NORTHAMERICA

SOUTHAMERICA

ATLANTICOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

INDIANOCEAN

0 km 5,000

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The First Mountain Climbers

The first amateur mountain climbers, around 200 years ago, were scientists. They climbed the mountains to study large, thick moving masses of ice, called glaciers. Layers of ice and snow form glaciers. The pressure from the upper layers makes the lower layers continually freeze and melt. This lets the glacier slowly flow downhill.

Scientists also studied the climate of mountains. Mountains have different climate conditions at different heights. Because of this, different kinds of plants grow on different parts of mountains. At lower levels, mountains are often covered in forest. Higher up, only shrubs and grasses grow. Nothing grows on mountaintops, where ice and snow lie all year round.

As scientists discovered more about mountains, climbing became a popular new sport. The climbers were called mountaineers. The early mountaineers were excited by the wonderful views they could see from the top, or summit, of a mountain. They loved the adventure and freedom of being away from everyday life. The challenge of mountaineering made them feel more alive.

Mountaineers climbed in teams for safety, using ropes, spiked boots, and other equipment to climb up steep, bare rocks and ice. On steep, icy slopes the climbers cut steps with ice axes. Mountaineers today still use these methods.

Three Famous Mountains

Mt Kenya

Mt Everest

Mt Fuji

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Mt Everest

The highest mountain in the world is Mt Everest. It rises 8,850 m above sea level. Mt Everest is part of the world’s highest mountain range, the Himalayas. This mountain range stretches 2,500 km, from Pakistan in the west to Bhutan in the east. The Himalayas are formed by pressure caused by the movements of Earth’s crust. Mountains like this are called fold mountains.

Huge areas of rocky crust, called plates, make up Earth’s surface. The plates move very slowly, all the time. Sometimes, the plates slide along next to each other. This causes earthquakes. When two plates collide and push against each other, they force the crust to push upwards. This creates mountains. Two huge plates are colliding beneath the Himalayas, and the mountains are still growing higher – by about 5 mm every year. This is how the highest mountains in the world form, over millions of years.

How Fold Mountains Form

mantle

lithosphere

crust

fold mountain

Plates push against each other

Crust pushed upwards

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