Glacial lake outburst floods in the Hindu Kush Himalayas

This case study examines the risks and impacts of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, highlighting the transboundary nature of these disasters and the need for regional cooperation in disaster risk reduction.

• Climate change is causing rapid glacier retreat in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, leading to an increase in the number and volume of glacial lakes. Between 1977 and 2010, Nepal lost 24% of its glacier areas, and globally, the volume and number of glacial lakes have grown by approximately 50% since 1990.
• GLOFs in the Hindu Kush Himalayas often present transboundary risks, where a lake breach in one country causes devastation in another. For example, a July 2016 flood along the Bhote Koshi River in Nepal, which caused an estimated $70 million in economic damages, was caused by the breach of the Gongbatongshacuo Lake moraine dam in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, releasing 100,000 m3 of water.
• There is a high concentration of GLOF risks along the China-Nepal border. Over 85% of high- and very high-risk transboundary water basins in the Himalayas are located near this border. Of the 3,600 glacial lakes in Nepal's three major river systems (Koshi, Narayani, and Karnali), more than 1,500 are located in Tibet. A 2020 inventory identified 47 dangerous GLOF risk lakes, 25 of which are in Tibet.
• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) and early-warning systems in the region are currently inadequate and lack cross-border integration. Only three sensor-based technical systems exist in the region, two of which are in Nepal, and none operate across borders. While some regional initiatives exist—such as the Hindu Kush Himalaya Glaciers and Mountain Economy Network (est. 2018) and the Koshi Basin Initiative—political tensions and a lack of trust hinder the systematic mapping and monitoring of risk zones.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2021). Glacial lake outburst floods in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. https://www.sei.org/features/glacial-lake-outburst-floods-hindu-kush-himalayas/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Glacial lake outburst floods in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. 2021. https://www.sei.org/features/glacial-lake-outburst-floods-hindu-kush-himalayas/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Glacial lake outburst floods in the Hindu Kush Himalayas |date=9 November 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/features/glacial-lake-outburst-floods-hindu-kush-himalayas/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2021glacial, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Glacial lake outburst floods in the Hindu Kush Himalayas}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/features/glacial-lake-outburst-floods-hindu-kush-himalayas/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }