SYANGBOCHE, Nepal (AP) — Nepal's government calls it the world's highest Cabinet meeting.
Top politicians strapped on oxygen tanks and sat at folding tables in the frigid, thin air of Mount Everest. The stunt was intended to draw attention to the danger global warming poses to glaciers ahead of next week's international climate change talks.
On a plateau with the Everest's snow-capped peak behind them, ministers signed a commitment to tighten environmental regulations and expand Nepal's protected areas. They wore purple sashes reading, "Save the Himalayas."
Scientists say glaciers in the Himalayan mountains are melting at an alarming rate. The runoff is creating new lakes with walls that could burst and flood villages below.
In October, the Maldives (MAHL'-dyvz) held an underwater Cabinet meeting to highlight the dangers to the islands from rising sea levels that are attributed to global warming.
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<<APPHOTO DEL104 (12/04/09)>>
: Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, center, and members of the cabinet raise hands in favor of a document to highlight the negative impacts of global warming on Mount Everest, seen in the background, during a special cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar in Nepal, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. Nepal's top politicians strapped on oxygen tanks Friday and held a Cabinet meeting amid the frigid, thin air of Mount Everest to highlight the danger global warming poses to glaciers ahead of next week's international climate change talks. Kalapathar is a flat area at an altitude of 17,192 feet (5,250 meters) next to Everest base camp, the jumping point for climbers seeking to scale the peak.
<<APPHOTO DEL105 (12/04/09)>>
: Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, center, and members of the cabinet raise hands in favor of a document to highlight the negative impacts of global warming on Mount Everest, seen in the background, during a special cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar in Nepal, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. Nepal's top politicians strapped on oxygen tanks Friday and held a Cabinet meeting amid the frigid, thin air of Mount Everest to highlight the danger global warming poses to glaciers ahead of next week's international climate change talks. Kalapathar is a flat area at an altitude of 17,192 feet (5,250 meters) next to Everest base camp, the jumping point for climbers seeking to scale the peak.
<<APPHOTO DEL144 (12/04/09)>>
: Nepalese Environment Minister Thakur Sharma, center, looks on after attending a special cabinet meeting in Kalapathar, a flat area at an altitude of 17,192 feet (5,250 meters) next to Everest base camp, in Nepal, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. Nepal's top politicians strapped on oxygen tanks Friday and held a Cabinet meeting amid the frigid, thin air of Mount Everest to highlight the danger global warming poses to glaciers, ahead of next week's international climate change talks.
