[[link removed]]

GLACIER TIME BOMBS  
[[link removed]]


 

Robert Hunziker
August 31, 2026
CounterPunch
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ In High Mountain Asia, there are thousands of glaciers at some
stage of transforming into large lakes that may burst, barreling down
mountainsides. The recent Nepal incident is but a warning, _

, Image by Richard Young.

 

Global warming is becoming a self-advertised nuisance with the recent
Nepal disaster bringing renewed attention: Is global warming fueled by
fossil fuel CO2 emissions behind the Nepal catastrophe?

In High Mountain Asia, there are thousands of glaciers at some stage
of transforming into large lakes that may burst, barreling down
mountainsides. The recent Nepal incident is but a warning, according
to Jason Gulley, professor of geology, University of South Florida,
who focuses on glacier hydrology. (_The Melting Glacier in Nepal Was a
Time Bomb. There are More to Come, _The New York Times, August 28,
2026)

Professor Gulley understands the dynamics of cascading glaciers. Since
2005, he’s made six expeditions to the Khumbu region to study how
glaciers disintegrate into hazardous lakes.

So far, here’s what’s known: “What’s clear at this point is
that a giant hunk of glacier peeled off the side of the mountain,
tumbled down 4,000 vertical feet and slammed into a tributary of the
Bhote Koshi River in China. Originally misidentified as an earthquake,
the mountain-shaking event registered as a 5.2 magnitude seismic
event. Moments later, a wall of rocks and water blasted through the
Gyriong Port building as the flood barreled down the valley,” Ibid.

STOP CO2 EMISSIONS OR SUFFER MORE GLACIERS BARRELING DOWN
MOUNTAINSIDES

“Unless the carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the planet are
curbed, scientists project warming across High Mountain Asia, a broad
region encompassing the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir, Hindu Kush and
Tien Shan, will erase as much as 75 percent of the remaining glaciers
by 2100… Meltwater pooling behind moraines and in depressions
exposed by the ice will transform thousands of glaciers into large
lakes, each one a potential ticking time bomb for vulnerable
communities downstream,” Ibid.

Over millennia, Nepal’s glaciers formed and grew until they filled
valleys in mountains and in the process “bulldozed” piles of rocky
debris up to hundreds of feet in height down mountainsides, thus
forming what glaciologists call “moraines.” Essentially, these
moraines serve as nature-made dams that are now containing the water
of the Great 21st Century Glacial Meltdown, forming large lakes in
mountainous terrain. Eventually, the unrelenting pressure of
additional meltwater overwhelms the moraines, breaking loose,
cascading down mountainsides. Voilà, the Nepal incident!

MYSTERY OF THE NEPAL INCIDENT

“While Wednesday’s flood had a massive landslide, there didn’t
appear to be any glacier lakes below it, making it a bit of an
anomaly, certain to be studied intensely in the coming years. Some
scientists have speculated that the impact of a piece of glacier
falling 4,000 feet could have pulverized the ice into water… But we
know that there will be more floods — and some may be far worse than
this week’s catastrophe,” Ibid.

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIST SHAKEN BY WORLD GLACIER MELTDOWN

A 20-yr. international study of glacier meltdowns, involving 35
research teams, was published in SciTechDaily d/d February 22, 2025:
“The Great Glacier Meltdown Uncovered 273 Billion Tonnes of Ice Lost
Annually”

That headline is bad enough, but it gets worse. Over the second decade
of the 20-year study, the massive meltdown accelerated by 36%.

“The rate of ice loss has escalated over time. While the average
annual loss stands at 273 billion tonnes, this figure increased by 36%
in the second half of the study period (2012–2023) compared to the
first half (2000–2011) … The rate of glacier ice loss has
increased significantly from 231 billion tonnes per year in the first
half of the study period to 314 billion tonnes per year in the second
half.” Ibid.

Additionally, sea level projections by the IPCC and others are likely
too low by not factoring terrestrial glaciers: “Over the full study
period, glacier ice loss was 18% greater than that of the Greenland
Ice Sheet and more than twice the loss from Antarctica’s Ice Sheet,
underscoring the critical role glaciers play in global sea-level
rise.”

Meanwhile, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods endanger populated areas of
mountainous regions, according to Carbon Brief,
[[link removed]]
22-25% of the global population, roughly 2 billion people, live
downstream from snowpacks and glaciers. About 10% of the
world’s land surface is covered by 200,000 glaciers.

OXFORD ACADEMIC

_Scientists’ Warning on Fossil Fuels_, Oxford Open Climate Change
d/d March 31, 2025:

“The evidence is clear that fossil fuels—and the fossil fuel
industry and its enablers—are driving a multitude of interlinked
crises that jeopardize the breadth and stability of life on Earth.
Every stage of the fossil fuel life cycle—extraction, processing,
transport, and combustion or conversion to petrochemical
products—emits planet-heating greenhouse gases and health-harming
pollutants, in addition to causing widespread environmental
degradation. We review the vast scientific evidence showing that
fossil fuels and the fossil fuel industry are the root cause of the
climate crisis, harm public health, worsen environmental injustice,
accelerate biodiversity extinction, and fuel the petrochemical
pollution crisis. Fossil fuels are responsible for millions of
premature deaths, trillions of dollars in damages, and the escalating
disruption of ecosystems, threatening people, wildlife, and a livable
future. The fossil fuel industry has obscured and concealed this
evidence through a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar disinformation
campaign aimed at blocking action to phase out fossil fuels.”

_ROBERT HUNZIKER lives in Los Angeles and can be reached
at [email protected]._

* glaciers
[[link removed]]
* floods
[[link removed]]
* Nepal
[[link removed]]
* Global warming
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Bluesky [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]