If you live near a glacial lake, like in the Andes, you could be under riks in the future
(Bjork / Wikimedia Commons https://bit.ly/3jKMraB)
Researchers from Newcastle University have found that around 15 million people worldwide are at risk of glacial lake outburst flooding.
According to their estimates, the population of the highlands of Asia is the most vulnerable, with about a million people living within 10 kilometers of any dangerous glacial lake.
The highlands of the Andes in South America also caused concern among researchers due to the lack of knowledge of the glaciers there.
The rate of melting of mountain glaciers has increased markedly in recent decades due to global warming.
Melt water forms lakes on glaciers, and over the past 30 years their number has increased by more than one and a half times.
But no one assessed the danger associated with possible outbursts of these lakes.
Now, a team led by Caroline Taylor compared the most recent available (2020) data on the state of glacial lakes with data on human settlement in their surroundings.
(Caroline Taylor et al. / Nature Communications, 2023 https://go.nature.com/3YBxiqT)
The researchers considered as dangerous, the lakes whose breakthroughs can “cover” a zone 50 kilometers long, and people live within one kilometer from the channel of such a stream.
The team from New Zealand hope that the results of their work will become the starting point for a more thorough assessment of the risks caused by this problem.
Their efforts could be valuable at the national and global level.
Sources:
- Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36033-x
- Japan Times: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/09/world/glacier-melt-floods/
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