Climate change made deadly Nepal glacier and rock collapse more likely, according to analysis
Researchers said warming, glacier loss and a 2015 earthquake weakened the slope before the collapse, which killed at least 1,300 people.
- On Thursday, World Weather Attribution released a report linking the August 26 rock-ice avalanche in Nepal to human-induced climate change, identifying multiple destabilizing factors rather than a single extreme weather event.
- Rising temperatures pushed the freezing threshold upward by roughly 100 meters per decade in the Himalayas, thawing permafrost and weakening rock strength while accelerating glacier retreat.
- The August 26 disaster killed at least 1,300 people and left more than 5,000 missing, while a 2015 7.8 magnitude earthquake may have preconditioned the slope for collapse.
- Imperial College London climate scientist Friederike Otto said, "There is absolutely no doubt that human-induced climate change played a role," noting such events exceed current early warning capabilities.
- Unless the world rapidly cuts fossil fuel pollution, "we will inevitably see more disasters of this scale," Otto warned, as infrastructure concentrated in narrow river valleys remains highly vulnerable.
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Incident may have been preconditioned by 2015 earthquake, while warming, permafrost degradation, glacier thinning and retreat, increased rainfall, unusually warm conditions likely contributed, says World Weather Attribution
As suspicions increase that the tragedy caused by the flood in Nepal was influenced by accelerated melting of glaciers, the country has called for climate compensation for the impacts of climate change in the region, one of the most hit by climate phenomena, despite its low "contribution" to the climate crisis. Will there be more such tragedies caused by global warming? Alex Godoy Faundez, an expert in climate change mitigation and adaptation, e…
‘No doubt’ of climate change role in deadly China-Nepal flood: scientists
Climate change was a core factor in last month's deadly glacial mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border that killed more than 1,400 people and left at least 6,600 missing, scientists said Thursday.
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