Flood Barrier USA

Nepalese Villages Threatened by Melting Glaciers

Author: Donna Conneely

Most people know that global warming is a threat to low-lying countries around the world. Some island nations, like Tuvalu, are in danger of disappearing entirely. This tiny country is home to more than 10,000 people who live on nine atolls that form the nation. The atolls barely rise above sea level, and each new storm eats away at the coastline. Many Tuvaluans are fleeing the precarious life on Tuvalu because it appears likely that one day the islands will be swallowed by the ocean as sea levels rise.

Scientists predict that the world will see a migration of “climate refugees” as conditions deteriorate around the world. But it is not just the low-lying nations that will bear the brunt. Nepal, which is home to Mount Everest, is the country with the highest elevation in the world. And yet this nation is also threatened by global warming, and at the same time is perhaps contributing to the inundation of Tuvalu by dumping massive amounts of water into the great river systems of India and China.

Nepal has over 3000 glaciers, which are melting at an alarming rate. When the glaciers melt, the water runs off into glacial lakes, which store the water safely behind dams until it can be channeled away from populated areas. However, rising temperatures due to global warming have begun to melt the glaciers faster than the lakes can hold the water, resulting in flooding.

Although it is one of the least-polluting countries in the world, pristine Nepal has the misfortune to be located between two nations — India and China — that are gross polluters. As a result, temperatures in the region are increasing measurably each year, and glaciers have shrunk by more than 20%. All that water has to go downhill, often with disastrous consequences. Flash floods are common and there have been several catastrophic floods that have killed dozens and wreaked widespread destruction.

The areas around these glacial rivers and lakes are unsafe when meltwater builds up to dangerous levels. During periods of heavy rain, landslides commonly block the rivers, which back up dangerously behind these unstable walls of mud. But mud cannot stop water for long, and when the river breaks through, a flash flood of gigantic proportions roars downstream washing away all in its path. At the present time 14 glacial lakes are presenting signs of bursting through their dams.

Although the rivers frequently bring death and destruction, many people nevertheless live in these unsafe regions, because the soil bordering the rivers is very fertile. Still, some people are beginning to think of leaving their flood-threatened homes in search of greater safety. From the world’s lowest lands to the very highest, global warming — and the floods that it causes — is driving people from their homes.

These distant flood situations present the USA with the opportunity of learning how conditions in other regions can affect our own shores and waterways. As we gain new understanding of how climate change affects the water cycle both regionally and globally, we must explore the ways in which our communities can build infrastructure that will be adequate to meet the increasing challenges.  The preventive measures that must be explored include flood barrier systems, and the development of  flood emergency response plans. We must prepare for the inevitable effects of climatic change, which will affect the USA just as surely as the residents of Tuvalu.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 6th, 2012 at 1:54 pm and is filed under Flood Protection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.