More expensive than gold: “Viagra” of the Himalayas to extinction due to climate

Tibetan mushrooms, more valuable than gold and known as “Himalayan Viagran”, which in Asia is considered a wonderful drug, are increasingly difficult to find because of climate change, scientists say.

People in China and Nepal have killed each other because of rare parasitic mushrooms, which in Latin are called Ophiochodyceps Sinensis.

While there is no scientific evidence, people believe that this type of mushroom treats everything from impotence to cancer.

This is one of the <x1 most valuable biological products that guarantee a major source of return”, researchers write in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Over the past decade, the popularity of the Ophiocoryceps has increased significantly, and prices “flew” in the sky. In Beijing they are said to pay three times more than gold.

In recent years, however, there has been less and less. Many feel that this is due to excessive harvesting, but scientists wanted to find out more. They talked to gatherers and mushroom merchants, and studied all available scientific literature on geographical factors, climate phenomena, and environmental conditions to find the cause of extinction.

They found that mushrooms are not only sensitive to excess crops but rather to climate change.

“This means that mushrooms, even if people reduce crops and crops, continue to be less and less due to the current climate change,” said lead researcher Kelly Hopping from Boiseju University, Idaho. Parasicular mushrooms can be found only at an altitude of over 10,000 feet [3,000 m].

They need special conditions for growth such as subzero temperatures and soil that does not stay frozen forever.

These conditions are usually found on the edge of the temporary zone. Given that winter temperatures have risen markedly in the last decade, the amount of mushrooms that once increased significantly especially in Butan are now in much smaller numbers,” say scientists. The disappearance of these mushrooms will, they say, affect the local economy, where many communities throughout the Himalayas depend financially on meeting and selling these mushrooms.