![]() Chamoli disaster is a combination of complex processes involving local geology, snow, glacier, permafrost processes and recent warming of the local climate,” he said. “This most likely thawed permafrost in the region, which led to the event along with other processes such as precipitation increase. John Mohd Wani, a researcher who studies permafrost in the Western Himalayan Region, said that preliminary investigation into the Chamoli disaster showed a temperature increase between 20 in the region that warmed at least 40 metres below the ground over four years. “Compound extreme events, such as the Chamoli disaster in India and Melamchi disaster in Nepal in 2021, could be potentially linked to permafrost thawing,” said Prashant Baral, a permafrost research consultant at The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal. In the Himalayas, permafrost is “discontinuous” and is found at an elevation of (and above) 4000 m a.s.l, and in warmer places, it is located above 6000 m a.s.l. Permafrost or permanently frozen ground is defined as the ground (soil or rock and the included ice and organic material) that remains at or below zero degrees Celsius for at least two consecutive years. They are now looking into the role of permafrost and its slow thawing under the influence of global warming in triggering disasters like Chamoli and Melamchi. High Mountain Asia, researchers say, is highly vulnerable to these cascading hazards. Photo by Press Information Bureau/ Wikimedia Commons.Ĭhamoli and Melamchi disasters are “ cascading hazards” - a primary trigger such as heavy rainfall, seismic activity like an earthquake, or unexpected snow melting, followed by a web of consequences that cause subsequent hazards influenced by a mix of preconditions and vulnerabilities. Avalanches and landslides are increasing in the Himalayan mountains. ![]() Over 100 homes were washed away and 400 households displaced six highway bridges and 12 suspension footbridges were swept away. In the same year, the Melamchi river overflow and flooding in the Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal killed over 20 people. In 2021, 72 people were killed and over 200 went missing in flash floods in India’s Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The year 2013 saw the devastating Kedarnath floods on the Indian side of the Himalayas, followed by back-to-back avalanches on Mount Everest in 20. At its mildest, it manifests as irregular rains or snowfall, warmer winters, etc., but the valley residents live in constant fear of things escalating any day. Warm winters, warmer summers, landslides, avalanches, and GLOFs (glacier lake outburst flood) - the Himalayan region is increasingly witnessing the vagaries of global warming. Summers are a lot warmer now,” said Kapindra Rai, a programme officer at Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, a non-profit that manages waste in the Everest region. Last year, we had unnaturally heavy snowfall in winter. “These mountains used to be white with snow at this time they have only a few streaks of snow now. The local people point to the mountains cast in sombre brown.
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