Why the powerful Himalayam becomes harder and harder to see

I grew up in the capital of Nepal, watching the Himalayas. Ever since I left, I missed sweeping, panoramic views on some of the highest mountain tops on the ground.

Whenever I visit Kathmandu, hope to look at the dramatic mountain range. But these days there is usually no luck.

The main guilty is the strong air pollution that hangs as a haze over the region.

And this happens even in the spring and autumn months, which once offered a clear sky.

Only in April last year, the international flight in which I was passing was supposed to circle almost 20 times before landing in Catmond, from the foggy weather, which affects the visibility at the airport.

The hotel at which I registered was at a reasonable height from which the mountains were visible on a clear day during my two-week stay.

Even from the main point of view of Nagarkot, near Chatmond, everything that could be seen was a haze, as if the mountains did not exist.

“I have no longer branded a place for views” Sunrise, West and Himalaya “, as I have done in the past,” said Jogendra Shakia, who has been working at the Nagarkot Hotel since 1996.

“Because you can’t have these things mostly with the strip, I rebranded it with history and culture, because there are such tourist products.”

During the previous trip a year ago, I hoped I would be able to see the powerful Himalayan peaks on a hike in the fascinating region of Anapuro – but it was unlikely there was no luck.

Scientists say foggy in the region is becoming increasingly intense and prolonged, which significantly reduces visibility.

The tracing paper is formed when combined with pollutants such as dust and smoke particles, reducing the visibility to less than 5000 m (16 400 feet). It remains stagnant in the sky in the arid season – which now lasts longer from the climate change.

From June to September – the rainy season of the region, when the monsoon clouds, not the smoke, keep the mountains and the visibility of the low.

Traditionally, from March to May and October to November, they were the best of the business because it was when the sky was clear and the visibility was better.

But with a fever and a lack of rain and the deterioration of air pollution, spring months now see a thick strip with low visibility. These conditions begin in December.

Lucky Chetry, a pioneer guide on hiking in Nepal, said the foggy conditions had led to a 40%reduction.

“In one case last year we had to compensate for a group of hikes because our guides could not show them the Himalayas from the foggy conditions,” she added

The Australian tourist, who visited Nepal more than a dozen times since 1986, described, did not consider the mountains as “the main down”.

“It wasn’t like it was 10 years ago, but now it seems that the haze has taken over, and it was unusually disappointing for visitors such as I,” said John Carol.

Krishna of the Criminal Code, Provincial Chairman of the Nepal Agents Association in Western Gandak, says the hiking industry is in deep trouble.

“Our participants’ campaigns become depressed because no observations of the Himalayas mean no business. Many of them even consider changing the professions,” he said BBC.

On the Indian side, near the Central Himalaya, hotel and tour operators say that the haze is now tighter and returns faster than before.

“We have long dry spells, and then a strong shower, unlike the past. Thus, with infrequent rain, the smoke is maintained much longer,” said Malik Virdi, heading the tourist business in Utarahand.

However, Ms. Virdy says that tourists are constant – with many who have not caught the mountain range, returning to try again.

Western Himalayas in Pakistan were relatively less affected by the strip because the mountains are relatively far from cities.

But the locals say that even the ranges that were once easily visible from places such as Peshawar and Gilgit are often seen.

“The letter of the strip is still hanging for a longer period, and we do not see the mountains that we could in the past,” said Asif Shuja, a former head of the Pakistani environmental agency.

South Asia cities regularly list places with the highest level of air pollution.

Public health across the region has greatly influenced the toxic air, which often causes travel and closure of schools.

Automobile and industrial emissions, infrastructure dust and dry gravel roads, as well as open waste burning-base sources of air pollution all year round.

This deteriorates soot from massive forest fires – increasing from the longer arid season – and burning the residues after the harvest by farmers in northern India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Weather conditions that contain warmer air above the cool air trap, these pollutants and limit the vertical air movement – preventing the scattering of the pollution.

“Actions and dust storms are increasing in South Asia, and presumably this trend will continue with climate change and other factors,” said Dr. Somesor DAS of the South Asia Meteorological Association.

In 2024, the number of foggy days recorded at the airport in Porora, a large tourist center in the Western Nepal, was 168 – compared to 23 in 2020 and 84 years in 2021, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology of Nepal reports.

Experts believe that the Himalayas are perhaps the worst mountain range in the world, given their location in the populated and contaminated region.

This may mean that the changing view of the Himalayas can now be limited by photos, paintings and postcards.

“We remain a business with guilty if we cannot show our customers the mountains for which they pay us,” said Ms. Cheryt, leader of the campaign.

“And we can’t do anything with a haze.”