A new study has shown that the frequency of floods in High Mountain Asia (HMA) has increased significantly since 2000 due to climate change, after scientists analysed 1,015 floods over the last seven decades.
Since 1950, the region’s average temperature has steadily risen, warming at a rate of 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade. Meanwhile, precipitation patterns have changed in complex ways, both in terms of location and timing, the scientists said. This rapid warming, combined with shifting rainfall patterns, is affecting the region’s water cycle and increasing flood risks. The region is home to one of the largest sources of frozen water and feeds 10 major rivers, supporting over 2 billion people downstream.
Earlier studies show that temperatures in the region are rising at twice the global average, altering rainfall patterns and increasing the risk of floods, including glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF).
A PTI report, citing author Dongfeng Li, principal investigator of the Cryosphere and River Lab at Peking University, states, “While pluvial and snowmelt floods result from extreme rainfall, snowmelt floods are driven by rising temperatures and increased soil moisture. In contrast, GLOFs and LLOFs are shaped by complex interactions between climate, glaciers, and topography.”
According to Li, human activities are exacerbating flood risks. Rapid urbanisation, deforestation, and construction in flood-prone areas are reducing natural buffers and increasing vulnerabilities. All of these phenomena are the result of human activity, leading to severe consequences. We are witnessing how human greed has led to irreversible damage. Is there a chance to reverse and restore what has been damaged? Unlikely, but we can make a sustained effort to change for the better because there is just one Earth.