A study by World Weather Attribution and Imperial College London finds that the climate crisis likely destabilised a roughly 200,000 square metre section of glacier on Langtang Lirung that collapsed on 26 August, triggering floods that killed more than 1,300 people and left over 5,000 missing. Researchers say an avalanche of about 110 million cubic metres of snow and ice fell roughly 1,400 metres, registered as an earthquake, liquidised ice and produced a freezing flood that raced downstream at speeds exceeding 110 mph. The team calls the disaster a compound event: long-term regional warming of about 2C since pre-industrial times, about 1.5C extra warming in July and August, and the warmest local July, August on record in 2026 all preconditioned the slope. Satellite evidence and field analysis show glacier recession, added meltwater and thawing permafrost removed stabilising ice and weakened mountain slopes, and the study notes rock avalanches of this scale typically occur only once every 1,000 to 10,000 years. Dr Friederike Otto of Imperial said, "Communities in Nepal are paying with their lives for a crisis driven by fossil fuel emissions thousands of miles away." The authors conclude limits to adaptation are being reached and warn that without much faster transitions to zero fossil fuel emissions events of this scale will become more likely.
