As the climate changes and glaciers melt, a lesser-known threat lurks in mountain areas: glacial lake outburst floods. These events happen rapidly, releasing huge amounts of water with little or no warning. Unsuspecting communities lying in the flood path can suffer serious losses.

A full HD movie of flood that hit Pokhara on May 05, 2012. This devastating GLOF came in the morning in Pokhara at around 8:30 AM and remained until 12:45 PM.

Glacier outburst flood from Lhotse Glacier in June 2016 was captured on video by Elizabeth Byers, Produced by David Rounce

GLOF can be impounded by moraine complexes, glacial ice or even bedrock and, as a result of breaching, slope failure, overtopping or other failure mechanisms, lead to catastrophic phenomena in the high mountains that threaten people’s lives, livelihoods and regional infrastructure.

A glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF, is sudden release of water from a lake fed by glacier melt that has formed at the side, in front, within, beneath or on the surface of a glacier. It can be impounded by moraine complexes, glacial ice or even bedrock and, as a result of breaching, slope failure, overtopping or other failure mechanisms, can lead to catastrophic phenomena in the high mountains that threaten people’s lives, livelihoods and regional infrastructure.

This is a very rare thing at a local backyard glacier – a large lake of icy water formed on or under the glacier, then melted through the ice and poured into the lake down below, flooding the lake and sending the river into a rage. there are a few other glaciers around here where this happens every single year. but it’s news for us.

This is how the GlacialLake Water Outburst Started In Hunza

As the climate changes and glaciers melt, a lesser-known threat lurks in alpine areas: glacial lake outburst floods.