Nepal Recovers 4 More Bodies as Study Links Glacier Collapse to Climate Warming
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 17
Nepal Recovers 4 More Bodies as Study Links Glacier Collapse to Climate Warming
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 17
Summary
Four bodies were recovered Wednesday from a tunnel tied to one of 13 hydropower plants damaged in the Nepal-Tibet glacier-collapse floods, with searches still underway.
At least 1,300 people are confirmed dead and more than 5,000 remain missing, including workers believed trapped in tunnels, keeping pressure on authorities for answers.
A first academic attribution study by Imperial College London and World Weather Attribution said atmospheric heating and fossil fuel pollution worsened the conditions that destabilized the mountain geology.
Nepal plans to cite that finding in a request for $20 million from the UN loss-and-damage fund toward roughly $5 billion in rebuilding costs, including up to 20,000 homes.
That appeal faces a funding squeeze: nearly 120 countries have filed claims totaling almost $3 billion against a fund estimated at only $400 million ahead of November climate talks in Turkey.
With climate change accelerating Himalayan glacier collapses, are underground hydropower projects becoming deadly traps rather than sustainable energy solutions?
Could the financial strength of the Chilime utility mask the devastating human and structural costs of building in high-risk glacial flood zones?