(Central News Agency, London, comprehensive foreign news report on the 1st) Deadly flash floods broke out in the border area between Nepal and China's Tibet, killing more than 1,000 people in the two countries so far. Experts speculate that the cause was the collapse of a glacier that formed a barrier lake and then burst. Scientists warn that there are more than 3,100 "jumping glaciers" around the world, which may cause floods and avalanches. Nearly 100,000 glaciers in Asia are melting rapidly.
Nepalese authorities said today that at least 987 people have died in Nepal, bringing the death toll from the disaster to more than 1,000. Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah called on the international community to take action to face up to climate disasters.
Chinese state media earlier confirmed that 16 people had been killed in Tibet. Since the floods broke out on August 26, the death toll in China and Nigeria has reached 1,003.
Science Daily, a news website that provides the latest findings in the fields of science, health, and environment, reported that as temperatures rise, most glaciers around the world are shrinking. However, a small number of glaciers behave very differently and may pose greater dangers.
An international team of scientists led by the University of Portsmouth in the UK recently completed a large-scale global study of so-called "surging glaciers" (surging glaciers), examining the risks posed by these glaciers and how climate change affects the time and place of these emergencies.
Causes of glacier surge
A glacier surge occurs when a glacier that was originally moving slowly suddenly increases in speed. During this period, large amounts of ice are rapidly pushed toward the glacier front, often causing the glacier to advance forward. Such surges can last for years, and many glaciers undergo repeated cycles of surges and long periods of calm.
The study, published in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, compiled data on more than 3,100 glaciers around the world that have experienced jumping phenomena. These glaciers are not evenly distributed around the world, but are concentrated in specific areas, including the Arctic, High Mountain Asia (High Mountain Asia, which refers to high-altitude geographical areas including the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountains such as the Himalayas and Karakoram Mountains), and the Andes.
Based on this information, scientists identified 81 glaciers that pose the greatest threat when they surge. Most of these glaciers are located in high-alpine Asia's Karakoram Mountains, with densely populated valleys and critical infrastructure beneath them. These glaciers are often large, close to residents, and prone to repeated surges.
Dr Harold Lovell, lead author of the study and senior lecturer and glaciologist at the University of Portsmouth's School of Environmental and Life Sciences, said: "Spurring glaciers are very rare and can cause trouble. As one glaciologist said, these glaciers hold ice like a savings account, but in a short period of time they are like Black Friday. However, although these glaciers only account for one percent of the world’s glaciers, their behavior can sometimes lead to serious or even catastrophic natural disasters, affecting thousands of people.”
Why are leaping glaciers more fragile?
The findings show that these glaciers are not immune to the effects of climate change because of their bulging state. In fact, the bulging phenomenon may actually make the glaciers more sensitive. During a surge, glaciers may lose large amounts of ice, further exacerbating ice loss in some areas.
Once a glacier surges, the ice may cover buildings, roads, and farmland, block rivers, and form unstable lakes. Once these lakes burst, they may cause severe flooding.
In addition, the sudden release of large amounts of water may also cause destructive floods, causing glaciers to suddenly fall off, triggering avalanches of large amounts of ice and rocks; high-speed moving ice can create deep cracks, making glaciers extremely dangerous when used as passages between settlements, sightseeing or mountaineering routes.
Nearly 100,000 glaciers in Asia are melting rapidly
In addition, according to CNN, Dan McGrath, a professor of earth sciences at Colorado State University, pointed out that there are about 95,000 glaciers in mountainous areas in Asia, with a total area similar to South Korea.
"These glaciers are losing mass at a very rapid rate," McGrath said. "The glaciers in this area alone melt enough water every year to topple the Empire State Building in New York."
Not including the spire, the Empire State Building is approximately 381 meters tall. This means that the amount of glaciers melting in mountainous areas of Asia is similar to this amount every year.
Disasters similar to the Nepal floods have been anticipated by some experts. Jason Gulley, a professor of geology at the University of South Florida, who has studied glacier hydrology in Nepal and other regions, pointed out in an opinion piece in the New York Times that the melting of Nepal's glaciers is like a "ticking time bomb."
In the past 20 years, Guli has made six expeditions to Nepal's glacier areas. He said that since the 1990s, dozens of "glacier collapses" have occurred in the border areas between China and Nepal.
