Did you know three million people in India are at risk of flooding by glacial lakes?

Three million people in India are at risk of flooding caused by glacial lakes, the highest number of those exposed in the world, according to new study. The researchers, which also identified priority areas for mitigation, said more than half the globally exposed populations are found in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru, and China.

Team Newsable

First Published Feb 8, 2023, 5:00 PM IST | Last Updated Feb 8, 2023, 5:00 PM IST

Three million people in India are at risk of flooding caused by glacial lakes, the highest number of those exposed in the world, according to new study. The study by an international team led by scientists at UK’s Newcastle University, UK is the first global assessment of areas at greatest risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF).

The study, which was published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, predicts that 15 million people worldwide are at danger of floods brought on by glacial lakes. More than half of the populations exposed to the world are concentrated in just four nations: India, Pakistan, Peru, and China, according to the researchers, who also highlighted priority mitigation locations.

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According to researchers, Iceland has the fewest exposed individuals (260), followed by India and Pakistan (almost three million and two million, respectively, or one-third of the entire global population).

As the temperature warms, glaciers recede and meltwater builds up at the glacier's front, creating a lake. These lakes have the potential to unexpectedly burst, generating a fast-moving GLOF that can travel more than 120 kilometres from the initial site.

GLOFs have the potential to be extremely devastating, causing considerable property, infrastructure, and agricultural land damage as well as fatalities. Flash floods potentially triggered by a GLOF event in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district in February 2021 left nearly 80 people dead and many more missing.

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Since 1990, climate change has caused a sharp increase in the number of glacier lakes. The population residing in these catchments has also greatly risen at the same period.

The research team examined 1,089 glacial lake basins throughout the world for signs of susceptibility to GLOFs, including the number of people who lived within 50 kilometres of each, the degree of development in those regions, and other sociological variables.

The findings showed that High Mountain Asia, which includes the Tibetan Plateau and extends from Kyrgyzstan to China, has the highest GLOF hazard, with 9.3 million people possibly at risk, and that 15 million people reside within 50 kilometres of a glacier lake.

(WIth PTI inputs)

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