Glacial lakes and flood risk in the Hindu Kush‑Himalaya ^{CEFR B2}

The Hindu Kush‑Himalaya region stores vast freshwater in mountain glaciers across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, China, Nepal and India. Warming has produced many new glacial lakes — some studies report upwards of 8,900 — and failing natural dams can trigger glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). These events have caused deaths, infrastructure damage and displacement in India, Pakistan, Nepal and China, and are sometimes described as an "inland tsunami."

Predicting GLOFs remains difficult. Experts argue that better data, shared science and coordinated observation systems could provide earlier warnings, but political tensions and data secrecy limit regional monitoring. Arun Bhakta Shrestha of ICIMOD says, "Water is a very sensitive issue," and he warns that withholding information can delay evacuations. Mistrust among states creates a cycle of secrecy and limited cooperation; specialists like Xu Baiqing call for more joint research and shared knowledge, seeing science as neutral ground for cooperation.

China has advanced observation systems and strong glaciology output, but many Chinese studies appear in domestic journals or government databases that are hard for the international community to access. Even so, Chinese scientists use satellite imagery from US agencies such as NASA and the United States Geological Survey; a 2020 paper mapping glacial lakes in High Mountain Asia relied mainly on Landsat imagery from these sources. Open US satellite data has helped global research, yet access is unequal and field networks or geostationary disaster satellites are needed for real‑time alerts.

• Experts call for shared infrastructure, multilingual data portals, joint simulations and sustained training.
• They stress long‑term funding and local capacity building to keep early‑warning systems working.
• Without wider sharing and cooperation, many high‑risk lakes will stay unmonitored and vulnerable communities will remain exposed.

Fieldwork is costly and difficult: after the Jinwuco lake burst in June 2020, Zhang Qianggong said transporting one bag of cement took three full days, and equipment transport alone can cost over CNY 300,000 (about USD 41,000). Funding cuts and policy changes, including measures under the Trump administration and proposals affecting the Landsat program, have alarmed researchers who depend on long‑term satellite records. Programs such as ICIMOD’s Hindu Kush Himalaya Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP) support regional data exchange but remain limited in scale and funding.