Climate change had major role in triggering Nepal floods, scientists say

The combined toll from the deadly incident now stands at 1,446 people dead and at least 6,669 missing.Scientists say Climate Change was a core contributing factor in last month’s deadly Glacial Mountain Collapse that flooded parts of Nepal and Tibet, killing more than 1,400 people and leaving thousands still missing.Researchers from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group said in a report released on Thursday that the disaster was not caused by a single extreme weather event, but rather a “compound crisis” shaped by long-term warming, glacier retreat, Permafrost Thaw and geological instability.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Nepal holds day of mourning for more than 1,300 killed in floodslist 2 of 3Photos: UN urges global aid after China, Nepal Floods kill over 1,300list 3 of 3Relatives hold cremations without bodies for Nepal’s missing flood victimsend of listWWA uses peer-reviewed methods to assess the role played by Global Warming in extreme weather events, according to its website.A huge section of rock and glacier broke away from Langtang Lirung mountain on August 26, triggering a flood of water, ice and debris that swept downstream, destroying communities and infrastructure.“Relentless warming has lifted the altitude of the freezing threshold on the high Himalaya, exposing ice and permafrost deep in the bedrock to higher and longer thaw temperatures, weakening mountain slopes,” according to the report, Rapid Warming in the Himalaya Exacerbates Geohazard Cascades Beyond Adaptation Limits.Report co-author Walter Immerzeel, a mountain hydrologist at Utrecht University, said the region was undergoing “fundamental, irreversible shifts”, with glacier retreat and permafrost degradation undermining mountain stability.Nepal, a largely rural nation of 30 million people, contributes a fraction of global Greenhouse Gas Emissions compared with industrialised nations.