Nepal Floods? Blame Them On Climate Change!
Today’s Climate Porn, courtesy of the Mail:
Devastating flash floods and mudslides have wiped out buildings and bridges along the Nepal–Tibet border – with hundreds of tourists still missing.
In Nepal, houses and roads were swept away by rushing water and mudslides.
Meanwhile, officials in China–controlled Tibet said they feared ‘major casualties’.
So, why are these floods so catastrophic?
According to Professor Liz Stephens, Professor in Climate Risks and Resilience at University of Reading, a ‘complex chain of hazards’ is likely to blame.
‘Most people think of flash floods as being caused by heavy rainfall,’ she explained.
‘But in Nepal and Tibet, as in many other high–mountain regions, they can also result from complex chains of hazards, including landslides, avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods.
‘This complexity makes early warning especially difficult.’
Devastating flash floods and mudslides have wiped out buildings and bridges along the Nepal–Tibet border – with hundreds of tourists still missing.
Full story here.
The report goes on to explain what scientists think happened:
While details remain sparse at this point, early reports suggest a 4.4–magnitude earthquake triggered an ice avalanche, which in turn blocked the Lhende river.
Water then built up behind the blockage before bursting downstream – with devastating consequences.
Professor Stephens explained: ‘Initial reports from Nepal suggest that an earthquake occurred around the same time as a landslide or avalanche, which then led to the catastrophic flooding.
‘One way this can happen in steep mountain valleys is when a landslide blocks a river, allowing water to build up behind it.
‘If that landslide dam, then fails, it can cause a sudden, devastating release of water and sediment downstream.’
But the Mail being the Mail, why spoil a good story by excluding mention of climate change?
As it stands, it remains unclear if climate change had a part to play in the devastating floods.
However, after floods in Nepal in 2024, scientists from World Weather Attribution said that climate change had worsened the floods.
‘If the atmosphere wasn’t overloaded with fossil fuel emissions, these floods would have been less intense, less destructive and less deadly,’ said researcher Mariam Zachariah, from Imperial College London.
Sadly, as temperatures continue to rise, scientists say that floods like this could become even more common.
‘Climate change is no longer a distant threat,’ said Roshan Jha, Researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.
‘With every fraction of a degree of warming, the atmosphere can potentially hold more moisture, leading to much heavier downpours, and catastrophic floods like these.’
So there you have it. Just blame it on climate change, not the earthquake, without any evidence whatsoever.
There have, of course, always been floods in Nepal and the long term data shows no upward trends:
But why let facts get in the way of a bit of climate porn?
source notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com