Rising global temperatures are melting ancient ice, and the cascading effects are destabilizing mountain slopes and glacial lakes.
What's happening?
Glacial lake outburst floods are one catastrophic result of thawing glaciers, Suzanne OConnell and Alton C. Byers wrote for The Conversation. The water expands lakes and stresses dams and moraines, which give way under enough pressure or after a landslide into a lake, creating deadly floods.
The authors recognized the first World Day for Glaciers on March 21 by underscoring the impact of ice loss. This has been going on for over 150 years but has rapidly increased since the 1960s.
It affects the Himalayas, Andes, Alps, Rockies, Iceland, and Alaska — and 1.9 billion people around the world need snowpack and glaciers for drinking water.
There are more than 110,000 glacial lakes in the world, and 10 million people's lives and homes are at risk. "Billions of dollars in hydropower facilities and other structures have also been destroyed," OConnell and Byers said.
Why is this important?
Eighty-four years ago in the Peruvian Andes, one of these glacial lake outburst floods killed 1,800-5,000 people. Lake Palcacocha is now over 14 times bigger than it was then — and 35,000 people live in the water's path.
Englacial conduit floods, which come from inside glaciers, and thawing permafrost can also cause floods. The duo noted that the Alps and Pyrenees lost 40% of their glacier volume from 2000 to 2023.
Even huge rock faces are at risk from rising temperatures, which are the result of the burning of dirty energy sources. To attack the problem at its root, we can choose clean energy alternatives such as solar panels and electric heat pumps.
Talk with others about the changing climate and its effects, take action in your community, and support politicians and brands that make environmentally friendly decisions.
What's being done about glacial lake outburst floods?
Education about the problem has helped, with people avoiding such areas and zoning laws preventing building in some cases, but the risk persists.
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Definitely 👍 "Governments have responded to this widespread and growing threat by developing early warning systems and programs to identify potentially dangerous glacial lakes," according to The Conversation. "Some governments have taken steps to lower water levels in the lakes or built flood diversion structures, such as walls of rock-filled wire cages, known as gabions, that divert floodwaters from villages, infrastructure or agricultural fields."
The United Nations made 2025 the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation and 2025-34 the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences to raise awareness about the importance of the snow and ice that blankets 10% of Earth.
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