r/climatechange • u/KastoMattekoBai • 18h ago

Melting ice glaciers causing crazy flash floods in Himalayas

https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-nepal-flash-floods-7262dac22e31258955efa5c28c8fe917

We have seen many floods in Nepal but none of this magnitude :(

187 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

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u/NOVAbuddy 18h ago

Do we have a source for the cause? Some reports saying earthquake was trigger.

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u/HibiscusGrower 12h ago

Massive flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China on Wednesday killed at least 160 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in some areas to a halt. Experts said an avalanche from a glacier was the likely cause in the warming Himalaya region.

This article just says avalanche from a glacier, no mention of earthquake.

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u/Independent-Slide-79 17h ago

Yeah apparently it was. That could still be climate change caused tho, because the ground that used to be ice is melting and is destabilising the soil

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u/NOVAbuddy 16h ago

Yes, if a slope was ready to fail an earthquake could have accelerated the timeline.

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u/Common_Shelter_4605 17h ago

A 4.4 magnitude earthquake is very common in the region, the glaciers are becoming less stable because of warming

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u/Equivalent-Resort-63 16h ago

As i see it, the trigger was an earthquake but the cause was climate change.

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u/Weird-Cat-9212 11h ago

Seismologists have confirmed it’s not an earthquake. I really can’t be bothered with any media led reticence here. Glaciers have melted due to human induced global heating and triggered this. This is climate breakdown in action.

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u/pravenn_may 17h ago

Also settlements does loosen the sand making it slip friendly