Climate change contributed to Bhotekoshi flood, international study finds
Summary
An international study says climate change helped create the conditions for the devastating ice-rock avalanche and flooding in Rasuwa on September 10 by weakening the high-mountain environment. Researchers found glacier thinning, thawing permafrost and rising water pressure in rock cracks made the Himalayan terrain increasingly unstable.
Key Points
- World Weather Attribution says climate change contributed to the Bhotekoshi flood by gradually weakening the high-mountain environment.
- The study cites glacier thinning, thawing permafrost and increased water pressure in rock cracks as major destabilizing factors.
- Scientists say climate change was not the sole cause, but decades of human-induced warming created unstable background conditions.
- The freezing line in the Himalayas has been rising by about 100 meters every decade, lengthening thawing periods for land and rocks.
