How does a collapsing glacier turn into a lethal wall of mud and water? An expert explains what happened in Nepal

A collapsing glacier in Tibet sent a wall of mud, rock and water tearing through a valley in Nepal, leaving hundreds dead and hundreds more missing. Newcastle University geomorphologist Stuart Dunning tells The Conversation the disaster likely began as a rock-ice avalanche around four thousand eight hundred meters up, falling more than one thousand two hundred meters before picking up water and debris as it raced downstream. Unlike a typical glacial lake flood, there was no lake here — Dunning says experts are still debating what to even call this kind of event. He notes climate change is thinning Himalayan ice and destabilizing slopes, but with more people than ever living in these valleys, the bigger challenge now is finding ways to give communities more warning before the next one hits.

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