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Disaster Experts Say Nepal Glacier Collapse Was Difficult to Predict

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

The widened channel of the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal on Thursday after the flash flooding. Most monitoring and early-warning systems for glacial hazards focus on a specific area of risk.
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Is the environmental impact of datacentres finally cutting through?

In this week’s newsletter: Anti-datacentre sentiment is growing across the political spectrum in the US – and the public is only just finding out about the potential effects on their energy bills

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Anti-datacentre sentiment is growing from across the political spectrum in the US.

More than a dozen states have considered moratoria on datacentres. New York became the first US state to enact a temporary ban last month. Progressive stalwarts Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed a national moratorium. And even Greg Abbott, the far-right governor of Texas, called for a ban on datacentre development in rural swaths of his state.

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© Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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Disaster Experts Say Nepal Glacier Collapse Was Difficult to Predict

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

The widened channel of the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal on Thursday after the flash flooding. Most monitoring and early-warning systems for glacial hazards focus on a specific area of risk.
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Photos: A Deadly Flood Tears Through Nepal and Tibet

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

An aerial view on Thursday of buildings partly submerged in muddy water along a riverside after a flash flood at Trishuli Bazaar in the Nuwakot district of Nepal.
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