In Alaska, the Himalayas, the Andes, Greenland, and perhaps also the Alps, deadly chain reactions are just waiting to be triggered

You may not have felt it, but the earth beneath our feet is getting twitchier, and global heating is to blame. As temperatures surge and climate breakdown accelerates, interactions between climate and geology are becoming ever more apparent – as marked by last week’s horrific events in Nepal and Tibet. We still have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the idea that a changing climate can impact what scientists call the geosphere, but the evidence has long been incontestable.

In 2021, a similar deluge ripped through a series of mountain valleys in the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, severely damaging two hydroelectric power plants and taking about 200 lives. In August 2025, a colossal landslide in an Alaskan fjord created a 500-metre-high wave in an area frequented by cruise ships. A few months earlier, the collapse of part of a glacier in Switzerland’s Valais canton caused a debris-laden torrent that destroyed and buried most of the already evacuated village of Blatten.

Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL. His latest book is The Fate of the World – a History and Future of the Climate Crisis

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© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

The country is seeking urgent help from a special U.N. climate fund, but the program lacks money because the United States and others have been reluctant to contribute.

© Atul Loke for The New York Times

For those stranded by a flood, disaster experts say survival depends on access to oxygen, food and water.

School principal Rajendra Dawadi's quick decision to evacuate his school saved at least 900 students from devastating flash floods in Nepal last week.

The authorities in Nepal and Tibet said that more than 4,400 people were missing since a deadly Himalayan landslide and glacial collapse. Rescuers are searching for survivors.

© Atul Loke for The New York Times

Flood warning notices were sent to people's phones early Sunday as rescue crews worked to clear a major highway connecting Kathmandu to one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday's catastrophic floods.

A glacier unleashed a deadly flood earlier this week. For local trekking guides and climbers, the mountains were already changing.

© Atul Loke for The New York Times

The loss of power-generating capacity has raised questions about an ambitious expansion of renewable energy in one of the world’s most hazard-prone mountain regions.

© Atul Loke for The New York Times

Three days after a catastrophic wall of water, mud and rock tore through Nepal's Himalayan valleys, the scale of the disaster is still coming into focus. At least 579 people are now confirmed dead, nearly 2,000 remain missing, and the danger is not over. Authorities are closely watching lakes formed in the wake of the glacier collapse, amid fears of further flooding. Stephanie Sy reports.

Given the challenges in forecasting and detecting such calamities, researchers advised banning construction on floodplains and marking out clear evacuation routes.

© Atul Loke for The New York Times

Given the challenges in forecasting and detecting such calamities, researchers advised banning construction on floodplains and marking out clear evacuation routes.

© Atul Loke for The New York Times

Glaciers and permafrost in the Himalayas are melting faster as temperatures rise, though scientists are still studying the exact causes of this week’s landslide.

© Atul Loke for The New York Times

The scale of the disaster in the Himalayas is becoming clearer a day after catastrophic flooding tore through parts of Nepal and Tibet. Scientists believe the disaster was likely triggered by the collapse of a glacier, unleashing a torrent of water, mud and debris that swept away entire communities. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Dan Shugar of the waterSHED Lab at the University of Calgary.

The deadly flash flood in Nepal on Wednesday was likely caused by a huge chunk of a glacier that broke off and temporarily dammed a river, according to preliminary investigations by scientists.

A visit near the border with Tibet laid bare the effects of a swollen river’s furious speed. Miles of devastation were left behind in a flash flood that killed more than 300.

Rescue teams searched Thursday for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border, where a deadly torrent of water and mud several stories high swept through communities a day earlier following a glacier collapse.

An ice avalanche that started high in the Himalayas tumbled thousands of feet, releasing vast amounts of energy that pulverized the ice into a significant volume of flood water.

© Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters