{"id":1262332,"date":"2023-10-12T05:39:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T05:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/?p=297619"},"modified":"2023-10-12T05:39:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T05:39:28","slug":"glacial-lake-outburst-floods-in-alaska-and-the-himalayas-show-evolving-hazards-in-a-warming-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/10\/12\/glacial-lake-outburst-floods-in-alaska-and-the-himalayas-show-evolving-hazards-in-a-warming-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in Alaska and the Himalayas Show Evolving Hazards in a Warming\u00a0World"},"content":{"rendered":"
Glacial lakes are common in the Himalayas, as this satellite view shows. Some are dammed by glaciers, other by moraines. Photo: NASA <\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In August 2023, residents of Juneau, Alaska, watched as the Mendenhall River<\/a> swelled to historic levels in a matter of hours. The rushing water undercut the riverbank<\/a> and swallowed whole stands of trees and multiple buildings.<\/p>\n

The source for the flood was not heavy rainfall \u2013 it was a small glacial lake located in a side valley<\/a> next to the Mendenhall Glacier.<\/p>\n

Glacier-dammed lakes like this are abundant in Alaska<\/a>. They form when a side valley loses its ice faster than the main valley, leaving an ice-free basin that can fill with water. These lakes may remain stable for years, but often they reach a tipping point, when high water pressure opens a channel underneath the glacier.<\/p>\n

The rapid and catastrophic drainage of lake water<\/a> that follows is called a glacial lake outburst flood<\/a>, or GLOF for short. The flood waters race downstream over hours or days and often hit unexpectedly.<\/p>\n