Scientists Trace Nepal-Tibet Floods to Bedrock Collapse After Hundreds Die
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 27
Scientists Trace Nepal-Tibet Floods to Bedrock Collapse After Hundreds Die
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 27
Summary
Thursday satellite images showed the bedrock beneath a glacier on Langtang Lirung collapsed, dragging a massive ice section downhill and triggering the floods that killed hundreds along the Nepal-China border.
Kristen Cook and Dan Shugar said the rock-and-ice mass kept its momentum through a steep valley, while melting ice fed water and mud several stories high into downstream communities.
Before-and-after imagery showed the Trishuli River widened and turned brown-black with sediment, with villages including Betrawati and Syapru Besi buried in debris and some buildings swept away.
Scientists said a direct climate link is not yet proven, but mountain experts warned warming-driven glacier and permafrost loss is destabilizing high-altitude slopes and could make such collapses more likely.