On August 26, a large section of glacier and rock collapsed in Nepal’s Langtang region, sending an avalanche of ice and rock down a steep valley and into the Lhende Khola, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi. The debris of water and sediment travelled downstream, causing catastrophic flooding over 100 kilometres. As of September 1, more than 1,000 people had been reported dead in Nepal, and thousands remain missing.
The footage is a glimpse of a danger that is becoming harder to dismiss. The Himalayas are warming, glaciers are retreating, and frozen ground at high altitude is becoming less reliable. The precise chain of events is still being reconstructed. However, a warming climate is changing the conditions in which such disasters occur.
Copyright©Madras Courier, All Rights Reserved. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from madrascourier.com and redistribute by email, post to the web, mobile phone or social media.Please send in your feed back and comments to editor@madrascourier.com
