Less than a year since Solukhumbu’s Thame area witnessed a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), a devastating flash flood on July 8–which the preliminary findings have pointed to have been caused by supraglacial lake outburst–hit Rasuwa district. These events have raised fresh concerns over the increasing frequency of extreme glacial incidents within shorter intervals.
Initially, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) had said in a social media post that flooding on early Tuesday morning was triggered by continuous rainfall on the across the border in China. But, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) later has said that flood in the Lhende River was likely triggered by the outburst of a supraglacial lake.
Based on preliminary analysis of satellite imagery, the DHM stated that the flood may have resulted from the bursting of a supraglacial lake, located approximately 36 kilometers north of the Nepal-China border at Rasuwagadhi (latitude 28.4043, longitude 85.6469), at an elevation of around 5,150 meters.
While experts have long warned that rising global temperatures would lead to more extreme climate events, they now stress the urgent need for stronger climate action and advanced scientific research in light of recent developments.
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Dr. Maheshwor Dhakal, Chief of the Climate Management Division at the Ministry of Forest and Environment, said better information sharing and early warning systems were crucial to minimising damage.
According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)—the intergovernmental body leading global efforts to protect the Hindu Kush Himalaya region—supraglacial lakes are temporary water bodies that form on the surface of glaciers. These ponds can grow into large lakes and can be detectable via satellite imagery.
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Sharad Prasad Joshi, a cryosphere monitoring specialist and Nepal’s national correspondent for the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), who has been with ICIMOD since 2010, emphasised the need for constant tracking. “Continuous mapping and monitoring of glacial lakes is a must,” he said. “Equally important is the research. Glacial lake outbursts become more likely when rainfall exceeds snowfall in mountainous regions.”
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Other researchers and institutions have echoed similar concerns.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in its State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report, noted that 2024 was either the warmest or second warmest year on record—depending on the dataset—marked by widespread and prolonged heatwaves. The warming trend from 1991 to 2024 was nearly double that of the 1961–1990 period.
Between January and September 2024, the global mean surface air temperature was 1.54°C above pre-industrial levels (with a margin of ±0.13°C), boosted by a strong El Niño event, according to WMO’s analysis of six international datasets.
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The Hindu Kush region remains particularly vulnerable to climate change. ICIMOD reports that glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya melted 65 percent faster during 2011–2020 compared to the previous decade.
Early warning systems are widely recognised as vital for reducing loss of life and property in climate-related disasters. However, Nepal has such systems in place only at the Imja and Tsho-Rolpa glacial lakes.
(With inputs from RSS)
