REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Fears Grow of a Himalayan Tsunami as Glaciers Melt

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Thursday, May 30, 2013 13:06
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Tuesday, May 28, 2013 7:27 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


Quote:

Melting glaciers and rising temperatures are forming a potentially destructive combination in the deep ravines of Nepal’s Himalayan foothills, and the Phulping Bridge — on the Araniko Highway linking Kathmandu with the Chinese border — is a good place to see just how dangerous the pairing can be.

A bare concrete pillar stands there, little noticed by the drivers of trucks, laden with Chinese goods, that rattle along at high speeds across the bridge, about 110 km from Kathmandu. The pillar is all that’s left of the original Phulping Bridge, which was swept away by floodwaters in July 1981. The deluge was not caused, as is common, by monsoon rain, but by the bursting of a glacial lake. The force of the raging torrent was strong enough to dislodge boulders 30 m across. They still lie in the Bhote Koshi River.

Glacial-lake outbursts, as they’re known, are not new. They occur every time the natural dams of ice or accumulated rocky deposits that hold back glacial lakes give way because of seismic activity, erosion or simple water pressure. Millions of cubic meters of meltwater can be released as a result, sometimes over the course of a few days or — far more frighteningly — in a matter of minutes. During the past century, at least 50 glacial-lake outbursts were recorded in the Himalayas, according to data maintained by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). But what is new is that the lakes are forming and growing much more quickly because the glaciers are melting faster than ever.

The potential of a Himalayan tsunami is a hazard of global warming that has yet to be given much attention by outsiders, but it is a daily preoccupation of ICIMOD program coordinator Pradeep Mool. He told TIME that there were some 20,000 glacial lakes in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, extending from Afghanistan to Burma. In some parts of the Himalayas, like the Dudh Koshi area in eastern Nepal, the melt rate is alarmingly high.

“Almost all the glaciers [in Dudh Koshi] are retreating at rates of 10 to 59 m annually,” Mool says, “but the rate for some has accelerated during the last half-decade to 74 m annually.” He explained that this had created 24 new glacial lakes in the area, which now had a total of 34 such bodies of water. At least 10 of them are considered dangerous.

Research by a team from the University of Milan, released this month, found that in the past 50 years glaciers in the Everest region had shrunk by 13% and the snow line was now seen about 180 m higher up. Sudeep Thakuri, a researcher with the team, says the melting was most likely caused by warming temperatures and was certain to continue. Since 1992, premonsoon and winter temperatures in the Everest region have increased by 0.6ºC. More at http://world.time.com/2013/05/27/fears-grow-of-a-himalayan-tsunami-as-
glaciers-melt/#ixzz2Ubo38RZC


Well, I guess if it's not happening in someone's back yard, it's not important...and there's no global warming...

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013 8:50 AM

JONGSSTRAW


Oh the poor Yetis! Won't be called abominable snowmen anymore. Just Irving and Ellen and Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013 3:03 AM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up


http://www.glaciallakemissoula.org/

Not a new thing.


"When your heart breaks, you choose what to fill the cracks with. Love or hate. But hate won't ever heal. Only love can do that."

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013 5:41 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


You're quoting the article, I assume: "Glacial-lake outbursts, as they’re known, are not new." And of course ignoring the rest: "But what is new is that the lakes are forming and growing much more quickly because the glaciers are melting faster than ever."

Ergo, you have no point. Got it. Why did you even bother?



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Thursday, May 30, 2013 1:06 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:
You're quoting the article, I assume: "Glacial-lake outbursts, as they’re known, are not new." And of course ignoring the rest: "But what is new is that the lakes are forming and growing much more quickly because the glaciers are melting faster than ever."



Well, no. I was referring to Glacial Lake Missoula, which was mentioned in the link I posted. It flooded a good bit of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington when its ice dam broke, about 12,000 years ago.

But relating to what you thought I was quoting - I wonder how far back accurate records of lake formation and glacier melting in the Himalayas go.


"When your heart breaks, you choose what to fill the cracks with. Love or hate. But hate won't ever heal. Only love can do that."

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