Nepal is paying a devastating price for a climate crisis it did little to create. A catastrophic flood triggered by a Himalayan glacier collapse has killed over 160 people(with hundreds still missing). This is the cruelest face of climate change -> the countries with fewer resources to protect themselves are often the ones hit hardest.
The question is no longer whether the poorest can afford to adapt. It's whether the rest of the world can afford to keep looking away. #Nepalfloods #ClimateCrisis
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@altlife I have yet to see a fossil fuel exec interviewed, let alone over their culpability. Just "thoughts and prayers" and thinkpieces on "Could climate change to be to blame".
I don't ever recall a glacier collapsing like this, ever, in my lifetime, or in any history text of modern times
@sortius This isn't the first. Thame disaster in 2024, Humla and Rasuwagadhi suffered the glacial flood last year, scale is just bigger and more disastrous this year. In India, there was Chamoli glacier disaster in 2021 which killed 200+ people. Himalayan glacier is unstable now for a long time, climate scientists are at their wits end to make people aware about this. I remember reading about climate disaster in school, seeing its effects in real time is horrifying to say the least.
Nepalis who live in these regions depend on tourism for their livelihoods. Hotels, restaurants, porters, drivers, guides, shopkeepers and countless families rely on the steady flow of visitors through these mountain routes.
When disaster strikes, they don't just lose homes and loved ones. They lose their entire source of income overnight.
Will those who deny climate crisis help to rebuild these communities? I guess their interest ends at conquering Mt Everest via Sherpas who carry their weight.
Death toll rises to 270, over 1300 missing
The time to find solutions is now. This will only get worse. Don't know what I can do except to write about how helplessly sick this makes me feel. No one deserves a death like this. Imagine ordinary people just washed away in a second because people who shape our climate policies refuse to take climate change seriously.
We need serious climate action and real protection for communities living on the frontlines of climate change not just prayers.
Over 390 dead, 1500 people are currently reported missing.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said it does not need help from other countries to conduct search and rescue operations.
Nepal News reported that personnel on the ground were severely insufficient for the scale of rescue & body recovery operations while destroyed roads were preventing relief supplies from reaching families.
When the need exceeds capacity, there should be no hesitation in accepting every credible helping hand.
Earth scientists reviewing satellite imagery have found devastating clues: geomorphologists Kristen Cook & Dan Shugar say the bedrock beneath the glacier appears to have collapsed, taking a massive section of ice with it, sending boulders & ice crashing into the valley.
It is not yet over.
Nepal is facing yet another terrifying warning at the same disaster site. 469 confirmed deaths. Search & rescue operations halted as water levels continue to rise as a dam on the Tibetan side has burst again.
788 lives are lost, 9000+ people rescued, 2500+ still reported missing. It will take a very long time for Nepal to regain even a semblance of stability in these regions. From education & employment to housing & healthcare, every aspect of people’s lives has been upended by a disaster of the kind climate scientists have been warning us about for years. Climate change is not a distant threat. It is reshaping the lives of millions across South Asia. India with a billion+ population should wake up.
Among those caught in this devastating tragedy were pilgrims travelling to/returning from Kailash Mansarovar. It is one of the holiest pilgrimage for Hindus, Buddhists & Jains. Indian govt has a lottery system(1k) to take pilgrims, which was on hold post covid but started again this year. I was on the waiting list. Many like me aspire to undertake this difficult journey with deep faith, waiting years at times. Not knowing what has happened to your loved ones is a grief almost impossible to bear
