Why the powerful Himalayas are becoming increasingly difficult to see

I grew up in the capital of Nepal and looked at the Himalayas. Since I left, I have missed the sweeping, panoramic view on some of the highest mountain tops on earth.

Every time I visit Kathmandu, I hope to catch a glimpse of the dramatic mountain range. But nowadays there is usually no luck.

The most important culprit is serious air pollution that hangs like haze above the region.

And it even happens during spring and autumn months, which once offered a clear skies.

Last April the international flight in which I was in heaven had to circles in heaven before he landed in Kathmandu, due to the blurry weather that influenced visibility at the airport.

The hotel where I was checking was at a reasonable height from which Bergen is visible on a clear day, but there was no such day during my two-week stay.

Even from the most important viewpoint of Nagarkot, just outside Kathmandu, the only thing that could be seen was, as if the mountains did not exist.

“I no longer notice the place for the view of ‘sunrise, sunset and Himalayas as I did in the past,” said Yogendra Shakya, who has been operating a hotel in Nagarkot since 1996.

“Because you can’t usually have those things because of the haze, I have renamed history and culture because there are also those tourist products here.”

During an earlier trip a year ago I was hopeful that I could see the powerful Himalayan peaks on a trek in the enchanting region of Annapurna – but was hardly lucky there.

Scientists say that blurry conditions in the region are becoming increasingly intensive and becoming longer for longer, so that visibility is considerably reduced.

Haze is formed by a combination of pollutants such as dust and smoke particles, which reduces visibility to less than 5,000 m (16,400 ft). It stays still in the air during the dry season – which now takes longer due to climate change.

June to September is the rainy season in the region, when monsoon clouds are covered in the mountains instead of Waas and keep visibility low.

Traditionally, March to May and October to November were the best times for business, because that was when the air remained clear and the vision was the best.

But with rising temperatures and a lack of rain and the worse of air pollution, the spring months now see thick haze with a low view. Those conditions already start in December.

Lucky Chhetri, a pioneering female draw guide in Nepal, said that hazy circumstances had led to a 40% decrease in business.

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

An Australian tourist who has visited Nepal more than a dozen times since 1986, did not describe the mountains as a “big disappointment”.

“It was not like this 10 years ago, but now the haze seems to take over and it is extremely disappointing for visitors like me,” said John Carrol.

Krishna KC, the provincial chairman of the Trekking Agents Association of Nepal in the province of West -Gandaki, says that the trekking industry is in deep problems.

“Our members of operators are depressed because no observation of the Himalayas does not mean things. Many of them are considering changing even changing professions,” he told the BBC.

On the Indian side, near the Central Himalayas, hoteliers and tour operators say that Haze is now closer and returns faster than before.

“We have long dry spells and then a heavy downpour, in contrast to in the past. So with rare rain the haze continues to exist for much longer,” said Malika Virdi, who leads a tourist activities run by the community in the state of Uttarakhand.

However, Mrs. Virdi says that tourists are persistent – with many who have not received the mountain chain who returned to try their happiness again.

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

But the locals say that even the series that were once easily visible from places such as Peshawar and Gilgit are often no longer seen.

“The vel Waze lingers for a longer period and we don’t see the mountains that we could do in the past,” said Asif Shuja, the former head of the Pakistan’s Environmental Protection Agency.

South Asian cities top lists of places with the highest levels of air pollution in the world.

Public health throughout the region has been hit hard by the poisonous air, which often causes the disruption of the journey and school closures.

Vehicles and industrial emissions, dust from infrastructure construction and dry gravel roads and the open burning of waste are important sources of air pollution throughout the year.

This is exacerbated by soot from solid forest fires – which increase as a result of a longer dry season – and the burning of crop residues after harvest by farmers in North India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Weather conditions keep warmer air above cooler airfall these pollutants and limit the vertical air movement – preventing pollution due to spread.

“Haas and dust storms are increasing in South Asia, and this trend is expected to continue due to climate change and other factors,” Dr. Someshwor Das of the South Asia Meteorological Association at the BBC.

In 2024, the number of blurry days at the airport in Pokhara, an important tourism hub in western Nepal, 168 – was an increase of 23 in 2020 and 84 in 2021, according to Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

Experts believe that the Himalayas are probably the most important mountain range in the world, given their location in a densely populated and polluted region.

This may mean that the sparkling view of the Himalayas could now be largely limited to photos, paintings and postcards.

“We are over to do business with feelings of guilt when we are unable to show our customers to show the mountains for what they pay for,” said Trekking leader Mrs. Chhetri.

“And there is nothing we can do about the haze.”