What are cascade hazards? Cascade hazards can occur when more than one hazard interact. Primary hazards (e.g. avalanches and landslides) can often trigger secondary hazards (e.g. flooding and debris flows). As a result, the impacts are extended further downstream 1,2. Cascade hazards are difficult to predict and even harder to model 4 , therefore are …
Glacial lake hazards | Flooding | Case Study 1 | Case Study 2 | Summary Increasing glacial lakes In recent decades glacial lake hazards have increased due to accelerated glacial mass loss and retreat leading to the expansion of existing glacial lakes and formation of new lakes 1,2. As a result, glacial lakes now exist …
Introduction | Types of glacial lakes | Moraine-dammed | Ice-dammed | Bedrock-dammed | Supraglacial | Subglacial | Summary What are glacial lakes and where are they found? During the last few decades, accelerated ice mass loss and glacial retreat has resulted not only the expansion of existing glacial lakes but also the formation of new …
Introduction | Case study 1 | Case study 2 | Summary What is glacial surging? Glacial surging refers to the sudden movement of ice over a relatively short period of time resulting in rapid glacier advance that is different from the usual glacier activity 1. Examples of surging can be found across the world, e.g. …
Introduction | Mass Movements | Rockfall and Avalanches | Ice and snow avalanches | Landslide and debris flow | Case Study What are glacial hazards? Generally, there are two types of hazards found in glacial environments that can impact humans. First, we have direct hazards such as avalanches and rockfalls. Second, we have indirect hazards …
Glaciers, snow and ice are sensitive to climate warming, and changes in these can lead to serious hazards to human society1. Melting snow and ice and glacier recession in high mountains and polar environments can lead to destabilisation, including glacier collapse, rock and ice avalanche, glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFS), and glacier collapse.
By Alex Hyde The sub-tropical glaciers of Bhutan Bhutan is a small mountainous nation located in the Eastern Himalaya, with a population of around 727 000 people (Figure 1). The country has a sub-tropical climate in its south, where it borders lowland plains, and a Himalayan subalpine climate to the north where it meets the …
By Caroline Taylor What is a glacial lake outburst flood? Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) refer to the sudden release of meltwater and sediment from a dammed lake1. Across the globe there are many types of glacial lake dams, including moraine-dams, ice-dams, bedrock-dams, and landslide-dams 2, all of which can produce GLOFs. Why are …
Increasing risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) Read More »
There are many ArcGIS Story Maps around. Some are better than others; some take too long to load or are not well thought through. But some are excellent. Asia’s melting glaciers This well made Storymap focuses on melting glaciers in High Mountain Asia, and the impact this will have on water resources. Who owns Antarctica? …
A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a release of meltwater from a moraine- or ice-dam glacial lake due to dam failure1,2. GLOFs often result in catastrophic flooding downstream, with major geomorphic and socioeconomic impacts3,4. GLOFs have three main features: They involve sudden (and sometimes cyclic) releases of water. They tend to be rapid events, …
