Nepal Warns of Climate Threat After Deadly Floods
USGS said seismic waves came from a glacier collapse and debris flow, not an earthquake, as the flood wave raced nearly 100 kilometers downstream.
- On August 26, 2026, a glacier collapsed in the Langtang region near the Nepal-Tibet border, triggering a rock-ice avalanche and flash flood that destroyed the Gyirong Port border crossing.
- Long-Term human-caused warming has destabilized Himalayan glaciers and permafrost, setting the stage for such disasters; satellite data confirmed the glacier collapse caused the catastrophe, according to Monash University researcher Levan Tielidze.
- Researchers reconstructed the event as a domino-style avalanche involving 8.3 million cubic meters of rock and ice, while the USGS reclassified the seismic activity as a magnitude 5.2 landslide, not an earthquake.
- Local authorities report at least 359 people dead and nearly 1,000 missing, including at least 65 United States citizens, while rescue operations halted on Friday after water overflowed a dam formed by the disaster.
- Experts emphasize better characterizing Himalayan permafrost destabilization, as ongoing risks threaten mountain communities; world societies must prepare to assist vulnerable populations near high-mountain glaciers in the coming years.
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(Seoul = Yonhap News) Senior Reporter Kim Jong-woo = On the 26th, a portion of a glacier collapsed in the Himalayas, the 'Roof of the World.' Near the border between Nepal and Tibet, China, a glacier...
Nepal warns of climate threat after deadly floods
The US Geological Survey said the disaster on Wednesday near the high-altitude China-Nepal border was caused by a glacial collapse that sent a torrent of debris downstream, with nearly 3,000 people missing and 682 confirmed dead. While the exact cause of the collapse is unclear, climate change is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, increasing the risks of such disasters. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said he had spoken by phone with his Chinese…
Why scientists fear Nepal's disaster is just a glimpse of the carnage climate change could cause
Some climate scientists are cautious about prematurely attributing human caused-climate change as the sole cause of the disaster that resulted in the violent flooding of Himalayan villages in Nepal this week. But other experts say it was the kind of catastrophe they’ve been warning about for years.
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For Chinese researcher Zhang Qianggong, the disaster in the Himalayas is a lesson. A conversation about the emergence of the ice avalanche, the role of climate change – and why it needs another infrastructure.
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