As glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau become increasingly unstable, the likelihood of glacier collapses and subsequent chain disasters is rising, a Chinese climate official warned.
Gao Long, deputy director of China's National Climate Center, stated at a press conference on September 2 that the area of glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau has decreased by approximately 24% over the past 60 years, with around 7,000 small glaciers completely disappearing, according to a report by the South China Morning Post on September 3.
He added, "The structural stability of glaciers across the Tibetan Plateau will further deteriorate, leading to more frequent glacier disasters and an expansion of the scale and scope of damage due to cascading effects."
This warning comes as the damage from a massive landslide and flooding in the China-Nepal border region on August 26 continues to grow.
As of September 3, the Nepal Disaster Management Agency reported that the death toll from the flooding in Nepal has risen to at least 1,204. The number of fatalities in China has also increased to at least 21, bringing the total death toll to 1,225. The number of missing persons has risen to 4,757, including 4,216 in Nepal and 541 in China.
The area hardest hit by the glacier collapse in China was Jirong Port, located near the border with Nepal. According to initial investigations by Chinese authorities, debris from the glacier collapse traveled approximately 22 kilometers down the valley, reaching the Jirong Port border checkpoint in just seven minutes.
Researchers from China and Hong Kong, who released their findings on September 1, reported that erosion occurring downstream played a critical role in amplifying the scale of the disaster. The research team, which included scientists from the Tibetan Plateau Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Wuhan University, analyzed satellite and field data from Jirong County.
According to the researchers, the collapsed ice and rock rapidly swept down the 22-kilometer-long valley, eroding the riverbed and pulling in additional debris from the surrounding area. As water mixed with the debris, the glacier and rock collapse from the highlands transformed into a large-scale debris flow.
Consequently, the researchers emphasized the need to consider not only the volume of material that initially collapses from mountain peaks but also the increasing amount of debris and the exposure of populations and infrastructure downstream when assessing the disaster risk of high-altitude glaciers.
The international journal Nature also reported on September 2 that there is an urgent need to improve monitoring and prediction systems in light of this disaster. They noted that the sudden collapse of glaciers and rocks in high-altitude areas made prior predictions difficult, highlighting the necessity for regular satellite monitoring of areas where glacier and slope movements are accelerating to predict downstream flooding or avalanches.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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