Climate attribution for the Nepal-Tibet floods

A World Weather Attribution study published this week found that human-caused climate change contributed to the glacier collapse that unleashed catastrophic floods on the Nepal-Tibet border on 26 August, killing more than 1,400 people and leaving thousands missing. There was 'absolutely no doubt that human-induced climate change played a role here in the preconditioning of the disaster', said Friederike Otto of Imperial College London, one of the authors.

The study describes the disaster as a 'compound event': rising temperatures, thinning glaciers and thawing permafrost acting on pre-existing geological weaknesses, with the resulting floods and landslides sweeping through border towns and villages and destroying thousands of houses. Nepal intends to use the findings to claim millions from the UN climate disaster fund.