In China, 1 million people are at risk from glacier-melt flooding, a disaster threat set to grow with global warming

Name: Melting glaciers in northern Pakistan blamed for rising number of dangerous outburst floods
Uploaded: 2023-02-07T16:01:08.000Z
Duration: 2 min 12 s
Description: Melting glaciers in northern Pakistan blamed for rising number of dangerous outburst floods

Glacial lake outburst floods – or GLOFs – threaten 15 million people around the world, including vulnerable populations in western China

New Zealand academic says governments could encourage residents to move from the danger zone, while reserving high-risk areas for agriculture only

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A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) occurs when water is suddenly released from a lake fed by a glacier melt. A British-NZ study finds 15 million people around the world are at risk from GLOFs. Photo: Xinhua

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Published: 12:01am, 8 Feb 2023Updated: 1:01am, 8 Feb 2023

More than 1 million people in China are at risk from glacial lake outburst floods that occur when water is suddenly released from a lake fed by a glacier melt, according to a new study.

The exposed populations live in western China throughout the mountainous regions of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan, with the areas east of Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, and Yunnan’s capital, Kunming, deemed the most dangerous.

The global study by researchers in Britain and New Zealand found that across the world, 15 million people who live within 50km (31 miles) of a glacial lake could be under threat from floods, a risk that will grow amid changes to the climate.

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Melting glaciers in northern Pakistan blamed for rising number of dangerous outburst floods

More than half of them are found in four countries: India, Pakistan and China – which has the largest concentration of glaciers and ice caps outside the polar regions – as well as Peru, home to a section of the Andes Mountains.

“The continued ice loss and expansion of glacial lakes due to climate change therefore represents a globally important natural hazard that requires urgent attention if future loss of life from GLOF [glacial lake outburst floods] is to be minimised,” the team said in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on Wednesday.

Such floods often happen with little warning when a natural dam containing a glacial lake fails. The sudden flush of water can kill people and damage property, infrastructure and farms.

China’s Tibet autonomous region has had at least 27 glacial lake outbursts since the 1930s. In 1981, a flood at Cirenmaco killed 200 people and washed away the China-Nepal Friendship Bridge.

Another lake in the southeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Jiwenco, failed in June 2020, destroying buildings, roads, bridges and farmlands along the flow path.

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