The greater Himalayan region has the largest concentration of snow and ice outside the two poles. Warming in the Himalayan region has been around double the global average and the rising temperatures are leading to rapid melting of the glaciers — up to 70 metres (230ft) a year. In 2005 the global authority on climate change, the IPCC, predicted that all the ice in the Himalaya region would be gone by 2100 — a new IPCC report in October 2008 brought that date forward to 2040. The implications are dramatic. This ice is currently the major source of water to not only the Himalayan people themselves, but to all those in China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and large parts of South East Asia whose lives depend on all the great rivers of Asia — that’s over 1.5 billion people or a fifth of the world’s population.

Right now however, the biggest threat facing the people of Khumbu-Everest region are the floods caused by the rapidly melting glaciers, whose melt water collects in so called Glacier Lakes.The Himalaya has a total of 3,252 glaciers transporting melt water to rivers and mountain lakes. Climate change has a huge impact on the melt down of the glaciers. They now dump unprecedented amount of water in the lakes threatening the dams controlling the overflow. A recent study has shown that 20 in the Khumbu-Everest region are on the verge of bursting their banks, threatening to cause flash floods that will wash away villages and destroy infrastructure such as hydroelectric plants and bridges downstream. The risk of flooding combined with unpredictable and extreme weather patterns are increasingly affecting the lives and livelihoods of the local mountain communities.

On the 4th of August 1985, Namche Bazar, an important tourist center in the Solo Khumbu flooded and decimated the village. One of the most endangered places is around Everest; The glacier feeding Imja Lake around Island Lake Peak retreated 74 meters in one year. Research shows that during the past six years, 34 major lakes appear to be growing in the Khumbu, and 24 new lakes have appeared, 12 of which are classified as “dangerous.” They advocate early warning systems as the most cost- effective means of dealing with the risk of glacial lake outburst. Unfortunately that does not take into account when locals or tourists are on the trails when a flood occurs and can not get out of the way. Controlled breaching is a better way but some NGO's think this is too expensive.

The summit of Everest (Hillary step) was completely snow and ice free last year. The Sherpas notice a change in the last 10 years;there is less snow and ice even on the summit at 8848 m. Rockfall makes scaling the mountain more difficult. Objects, body parts and other relics are melting out of the glaciers surrounding Everest and can be picked up at basecamp. Last year it was a 102F in camp 2.

The main objective of Himayala Alert is to visit areas where climate change has its strongest effect. After the poles, the Himalaya is the most alerted area. Our team will report via blog, video, film and photo about climate change all the way to the top. The objective of this project is to inspire people to initiate action to save energy and generate awareness of its severity in the Himalaya. With the most advanced multi-media techniques ( webcam, podcast, youtube, webblogs) we broadcast via satellite and broadband directly to diverse media in Holland and the USA. We will report live on national tv programs, national newspapers and have a live connection to Basecamp Everest in Museon, a museum in Den Haag in Holland. Upon our return we make an exhibit of items we find from the thawing glaciers.