Recent incidents involving glacier melt and flash floods near the border of Nepal and China have starkly demonstrated the fragility of the environment. Simon Steel, the United Nations climate chief, stated on Sunday that the Hindu Kush region of the Himalayan range is under serious threat due to climate change.
He noted that scientists and local residents have long warned about the high risk facing the Himalayas as a result of global climate change.
Steel, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, emphasized that the burning of large amounts of coal, oil, and gas by humans leads to global warming. This, in turn, makes such disasters and many other events worldwide more likely, frequent, and severe, with the greatest impact falling on vulnerable communities.
According to him, the solutions to the problem of rising global temperatures are clear: it is necessary to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and increase investment in climate change adaptation.
The destruction of a glacier near the Chinese border led to a rapid flow of water and debris into the Bhote Koshi and Trisuli river systems. Reports indicate that the flash flood claimed at least 788 lives in Nepal, with 2500 people still missing. The floods damaged infrastructure in many areas, washing away homes, roads, and bridges.
Following this disaster, concern has also intensified in Indian regions located downstream from Nepal. Warning measures were implemented in Uttar Pradesh for villages threatened by flooding due to rising water levels in the Narayani and Gandak rivers. Furthermore, bodies washed down from Nepal were discovered in Maharajganj and Kushinagar.