Experts confirm that the severe mudslide at Gyirong Port along the China-Nepal border is closely tied to global warming. Rising temperatures have accelerated glacier melting, triggering a dangerous chain reaction of ice-rock collapses and cascading geological hazards. These environmental shifts, combined with complex high-altitude terrain and the challenges of cross-border disaster management, make regional risk reduction increasingly difficult.
Long-term research highlights the growing scale of this environmental transformation across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Data from three comprehensive national glacier inventories show that total glacier area on the plateau has declined from 51,000 square kilometers to 39,000 square kilometers over the past 60 years—a 24 percent overall loss. Shrinkage is especially severe in the southern region, where glaciers across the Himalayas and adjacent ranges have contracted by approximately 40 percent due to climate change.
Accelerated glacial retreat has directly expanded both the volume and surface area of glacial lakes, creating significant new hazard zones. The plateau now contains over 14,000 glacial lakes spanning more than 1,100 square kilometers, with Himalayan border lakes growing at an average rate of 1 percent annually. As these expanding lakes accumulate water, the risk of glacial lake outburst floods and secondary landslides continues to escalate throughout the high-altitude region.
Source: People’s Daily
