2025/01/30 by Ashim Sattar, Kristen Cook, Shashi Kant +31 · 2 voices · 132 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Archaeology #Climate change #Cryospheric studies and observations #Ecology #Environmental science #Flood Risk Assessment and Management #Flood myth #Geography #Geology #Glacier #Hydrology (agriculture) #Hydropower #Moraine #Oceanography #Physical geography #Precipitation Measurement and Analysis #Water resource management
paper · open access · doi:10.1126/science.ads2659
published in Science 387(6740), eads2659 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
openalex publication_date 2025/01/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
On 3 October 2023, a multihazard cascade in the Sikkim Himalaya, India, was triggered by 14.7 million cubic meters of frozen lateral moraine collapsing into South Lhonak Lake. The impact generated an ~20-meter tsunami-like impact wave, which breached the moraine and drained ~50 million cubic meters of the lake's water. The ensuing glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) eroded ~270 million cubic meters of sediment, which overwhelmed infrastructure, including hydropower installations along the Teesta River. The physical scale and human and economic impacts of this event prompt urgent reflection on the role of climate change and human activities in exacerbating such disasters. Insights into multihazard evolution are pivotal for informing policy development, enhancing early warning systems (EWS), and spurring paradigm shifts in GLOF risk management strategies in the Himalaya and other mountain environments.