Why mighty Himalayas become more difficult and more difficult to see

I grew up in the capital of Nepal, looking at the Himalayas. Ever since I left, I missed the metement, a panoramic view of some of the highest mountain peaks on the ground.

Every time I visit Kathmandu, I hope to look at the dramatic mountain range. But nowadays there is usually no luck.

The main culprit is heavy air pollution, which hangs like a fog over the region.

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

Only last April, the international flight I was in, had to go around the sky nearly 20 times before landing in Kathmandu because of the vague weather, which affects the visibility of the airport.

The hotel I checked was at a reasonable height from which the mountains were visible on a clear day-but there was no such day during my two-week stay.

Even from the main point of view of Nagarkot, just outside Kathmandu, all that could be seen was fog as if the mountains did not exist.

“I no longer mark the view of Sunrise, Sunset and Himalayas, as I have in the past,” says Yogenra Shaky, who has been running a hotel in Nagarkot since 1996.

“Since you can’t have these things most now because of the fog, I rebranded it with history and culture, as there are these tourist products here.”

During a more early trip a year ago, I hoped that I would be able to see the powerful Himalayan peaks on a hike in the mesmerizing region of Anapurna – but there is hardly luck.

Scientists say that the vague conditions in the region are becoming more and more intensive and durable, significantly reducing visibility.

The darkness is formed by a combination of contaminants such as dust and smoke fire particles, reducing visibility to less than 5000 m (16,400 feet). It remains stagnant in the sky during the dry season – which now lasts longer due to climate change.

June to September is the rains season in the region, when monsoon clouds, not fog, maintain the mountains and visibility low.

Traditionally, March to May and October to November were the best time for business, because it was when the sky remained clear and visibility was best.

But with the rise in temperatures and the lack of rain and the deterioration of air pollution, the spring months are now observed dense fog with low visibility. These conditions begin as early as December.

Lucky Chhetri, a pioneering hiking guide in Nepal, said the nebula conditions had led to a 40% reduction in business.

“In one case last year we had to compensate a group of Trekiri, as our drivers could not show them the Himalayas due to the nebula conditions,” she added

The Australian tourist, who has visited Nepal more than a dozen times since 1986, describes that he does not see the mountains as a “main collapse”.

“It wasn’t so 10 years ago, but now the fog seems to have taken on and is extremely disappointing for visitors like me,” said John Carol.

Krishna KC, the provincial chairman of the Nepal Treking Agents Association in West Gandaki province, says the coming industry is in deep problems.

“Our members of members are depressed because no viewing of the Himalayas means business. Many are even considering changing the professions,” he told the BBC.

On the Indian side, near the central Himalayas, hoteliers and tour operators, Haze is already tighter and returns faster than before.

“We have long dry spells, and then a heavy effusion, unlike the past. So with rare rain, the fog lasts much longer,” says Malika Virdy, who runs a tourist business managed by the community in Utarakhand.

However, Da Virdy says tourists are constant – with many of them who did not catch the mountain range to return to try their luck again.

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

But locals say that even the ranges that have once been easily visible from places like Peshawar and Gilgit are often not visible.

“The fog leaf remains hanging for a longer period and we do not see the mountains we could in the past,” says Asif Shuja, the former head of the Pakistani Environmental Protection Agency.

South Asian cities are regularly at the top of places with the highest levels of air pollution in the world.

Public health in the region is greatly influenced by toxic air, which often causes interruption of travel and closing schools.

Automobile and industrial emissions, infrastructure construction and dry gravel roads, as well as open waste burning are major sources of air pollution throughout the year.

This is complicated by soot by massive forest fires – which increases due to a longer dry season – and the burning of residues from the crops after the harvest of farmers in Northern India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Meteorological conditions Maintaining the smoother air over a cool air trap of these pollutants and limiting the vertical air movement -preventing pollution from dispersion.

“Hasania and dust storms are increasing in South Asia. This trend is supposed to continue due to climate change and other factors,” said Dr. Someshwor Das of the South Asia Meteorological Association before the BBC.

In 2024, the number of nebula days recorded at the Pohara Airport, the main tourist center in West Nepal, was 168 – compared to 23 in 2020 and 84 in 2021, according to the Hydrology and Meteorology Department of Nepal.

Experts believe the Himalayas are perhaps the most affected mountain range in the world, given their location in a populated and polluted region.

This may mean that the scintizing view of the Himalayas can now largely restricted to photos, paintings and postcards.

“We are left to do business with guilt when we cannot show our customers the mountains they pay us for,” said the Treking leader D -Juzri.

“And there’s nothing to do for the fog.”