Climate Change, Perceptions, and Social Heterogeneity in Pharak, Mount Everest Region of Nepal

Abstract

Based on 15 months of research conducted between 2010 and 2012, this paper examines how climate change is unfolding for Sherpas in Pharak, the southern part of Nepal's Everest region. Sherpas are noticing environmental changes, undergoing socioeconomic transformation, being introduced to climate change, and becoming exposed to multiple forms of environmental knowledge from various sources. Thus, climate change in this research emerges as an issue not contained within a single geographic territory or an academic discipline but as the product of multiple knowledge systems in addition to observable effects on the natural environment. This research reveals the narrowly defined institutional climate change narratives that focus on melting of glaciers and glacial lake outburst floods. I argue that a sustained emphasis on such institutional narratives will obscure the wider range of both short- and long-term climate change effects and thereby limit our understanding of their impacts on the residents of this region. I further argue that in order to understand Sherpa perceptions of climate change, it is necessary to understand the exposure and access of individual Sherpas to various sources of knowledge and resources. This can be achieved by exploring social heterogeneity and understanding how social networks function in this small-scale cultural group.