Scientists Found The Science Behind Terrifying Tibet Avalanches

During summer, there have been two enormous avalanches that have struck the Aru Glacier in Tibet twice already. Recently, after several months of careful analysis, scientists think that they have found the cause of the first ice slide.

The first slide claimed several lives that include nine nomadic herders. The scientists stated that it has to do with climate change.

Over 70 million tons of ice melted and broke the Aru Glacier in the mountains of western Tibet last July 17, which shocked the glaciology community. The collapse was totally unexpected and was nearly instantaneous and buried 3.7 square miles of valley floor in just a matter of minutes.

The shock has been added when another avalanche occurred nearly two months later. Glaciologist Andreas Kaab from the University of Oslo stated to NASA's Earth Observatory that even one of the gigantic glacier avalanches was very unusual.

Andreas Kaab also added that two of them were within close geographical and temporal vicinity and by their prediction is unprecedented. Gizmodo reported last October that the working theory was that a process called surging, wherein the ice flows from the top to the bottom of the glacier and thus causes it to advance more quickly, and triggered the collapse of the Aru Glacier.

A new study though, led by researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ohio State University, disagrees that the July 17 ice slide looks less like a case of glacial surging and was more like a case of way too much water seeping to the bottom of the glacier. It then causes it to detach from bedrock and slide downhill. Co-author Lonnie Thompson, who uses computer model to recreate the avalanche, stated that at a given rate, which the event occurred and the area covered, he thinks it could only happen in the presence of meltwater.