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Lewis Pugh’s next cold-water swim: Everest

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Lewis Pugh, the epic cold-water swimmer and climate-change activist, has announced his next swim: a kilometer-long lap across a glacial lake at the top of Everest, in a pond of meltwater 17,000 feet up. He told me the swim will highlight climate-change issues in two massive countries bordering Everest, China and India. With their large populations and messy industries, the two giants have long been called on to act (see our Q&A with Parag Khanna for Khanna’s take on this). Realizing the effects of climate change on the pristine environment of Everest shocked him, Pugh said. The lake he’ll swim in, atop Khumbu Glacier, “shouldn’t even be there.”

The swim is set for April 2010. Get more details >>

Watch Lewis Pugh’s TEDTalk from Oxford this summer >>