Millions of people are at risk due to possible outbursts of glacial lakes

Glaciers around the world are melting at an alarming rate, leaving massive amounts of water behind. This melt water fills the depressions left by the glacier, forming the so-called glacial lake.

As temperatures rise and more glaciers melt, the lake rises, and it can be incredibly dangerous to live downstream of one of them. If the water level of the lake rises too high, or the ground or ice retreats in front of the lake, it can collapse down the mountains into the valleys.

The phenomenon is called a glacial lake outburst, and about 15 million people around the world living within 50 km are at risk, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. from a glacial lake. More than half of them are concentrated in just four countries – India, Pakistan, Peru and China.

This is the first study to specifically look at the potential impact of glacial lake outbursts, which experts say cannot be overstated.

Tom Robinson, study co-author and senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, said the glacial lake outburst is like an “internal tsunami”. He compared its impact to the sudden collapse of a dam.

“These glacial dams are no different from the dams that have been built,” the expert explained in a conversation with CNN.

Previous glacial lake outbursts have claimed thousands of lives and destroyed homes and critical infrastructure. The Cordillera Blanca in Peru is one of the clearest examples of a dangerous phenomenon. Researchers have found that since 1941, a mountain range in Peru has experienced more than 30 glacial disasters, from avalanches to glacial lake outbursts, that have claimed more than 15,000 lives.