What is a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF)?

A GLOF is a sudden flood caused by the failure of a moraine or ice dam holding back meltwater from a glacier.

How is climate change affecting GLOFs?

Rising global temperatures cause glaciers to melt, forming more glacial lakes and destabilizing mountain slopes, thus increasing GLOF frequency.

Which regions are most affected by GLOFs?

High Mountain Asia and the Tropical Andes are particularly vulnerable to damaging glacial lake outburst floods.

Home / Environment / Glacier Floods Surge: Climate Change Unleashes Deadly GLOFs

Glacier Floods Surge: Climate Change Unleashes Deadly GLOFs

22 Dec

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Summary

Glacial lake outburst floods have tripled since the 1980s.
Over 13,000 fatalities globally linked to these destructive floods.
Climate warming's impact on glaciers and slopes increases flood risk.

Glacier Floods Surge: Climate Change Unleashes Deadly GLOFs

The frequency of devastating glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) has surged dramatically, increasing threefold since the 1980s. These events, caused by meltwater from receding glaciers forming unstable moraine-dammed lakes, pose an escalating threat. Satellite and historical data reveal a significant rise, from 5.2 GLOFs annually in the early 1980s to 15.2 per year by the early 2010s, with over 600 incidents recorded in total.

Globally, these catastrophic floods have resulted in more than 13,000 fatalities, with High Mountain Asia and the Tropical Andes experiencing the highest number of damaging events. Research, including analysis from the University of Dundee, highlights a five-to-20-year lagged relationship between temperature increases and GLOF frequency. Approximately 70% of recent GLOFs were triggered by ice avalanches or rockfalls into glacial lakes.