Is Climate Change Responsible For The Series Of Avalanches? Geoscientist Found A Link

As the Earth continues to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, more concerned people are conducting a series of studies. Thus, a geoscientist found a link between the avalanche and climate change.

The ice-capped Aru that is a mountain range in western Tibet has been a steady presence for a thousand of years. However, this year the shape of the region has changed in an instant after experiencing two vast ice avalanches

The Guardian reported that the first avalanche came without a warning on July 17. It sent 60 cubic meters that are the size of a 24,000 Olympic swimming pools of ice and rocks, breaking down a narrow valley in the Rutog County. It killed nine herders and hundreds of yaks and sheep. Thus, by the time it stopped, the debris capped down 10 sq km and was up to 30 meters deep.

The glacier dangerously collapses, and it is extremely rare. The only known ice avalanche of a comparable size was the Kolka glacier event in the Caucasus mountains that happened in 2002. Thus, just two months later, on Sep. 21, a nearby Tibetan glacier also fell down. It generated the same with the large avalanche deposit. Thankfully, there were no casualties reported.

The geoscientist, Dave Petley, wrote in his Landslide Blog that "one such event should occur is remarkable; two is unprecedented."

The cause for these massive avalanches that happened on a relatively gentle slope has left the scientists in confusion. One theory is that the sudden movement may be triggered by climate change. The temperature in Tibet has increased by 0.4 degree Celsius per decade. It doubled the global average. Also, there are glacier melts plus the rainfall has risen. It may have been rapidly lubricated the base of the glaciers.

Petley concluded in his blog that, "The most likely explanation for the Tibet avalanches, and the associated glacial collapse, is climate change. That Tibet is warming rapidly, and that the glaciers are retreating rapidly in response, is well-established. This style of extreme mass movement appears to be a rather dramatic, and worrying, response."