Climate change linked to devastating Himalayan flash floods

A study by World Weather Attribution (WWA) indicates that climate change played a decisive role in the devastating flash floods in the Himalayas. Researchers investigated the causes of massive rockfalls and water volumes on the north face of Mount Langtang Lirung in Nepal.

The findings suggest that while the mountain slope was geologically vulnerable and potentially weakened by the 2015 earthquake, it was destabilized by retreating glaciers, permafrost thaw, and exceptional heat and meltwater immediately preceding the event. Since industrialization, temperatures in the Himalayas have risen by approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius, causing the zero-degree line to rise by 100 meters every decade in recent years.