Number of Glacier-Related Landslides Doubles in High Mountain Asia During the Past 20 Years

Nature Scientific Reports, January 15

Glacial melting has been identified as one of the main triggers for larger and more frequent landslides in high mountain Asia (the eastern Pamir, western Himalayas, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and western Kunlun mountains). For the past two decades, glacier extent in this region has decreased overall, while the number of landslide disasters and their impact radius have greatly increased. The area of landslides was also anomalously high in three out of four El Niño years, which tends to be associated with higher precipitation in this region.  If climate warming continues, the area of glaciers will further decrease, more slopes will be exposed, and the probability of large landslides will likely continue to rise.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-81212-9

Compiled by Amy Imdieke