‘No doubt’ of climate change role in deadly China-Nepal flood: scientists

Scientists concluded with certainty that climate change contributed to the catastrophic glacial mountain collapse along the China-Nepal border last month, resulting in over 1,400 deaths and more than 6,600 people still missing. The disaster was not caused by a single extreme weather event, but rather a "compound crisis" driven by long-term warming, glacier retreat, permafrost thaw, and geological instability.

A massive chunk of ice and rock detached from the Langtang Lirung mountain on August 26, unleashing a torrent of water, ice, and debris that inundated downstream communities and infrastructure.

Walter Immerzeel, a mountain hydrologist at Utrecht University and co-author of the report, stated that the region is experiencing "fundamental, irreversible shifts," with glacier retreat and permafrost degradation undermining mountain stability. The study found that the July and August 2026 months were the warmest ever recorded locally, while heavy snowfall in late 2025 led to increased meltwater before the collapse.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal in 2015 might have further weakened the slope, though its exact role remains unclear.

The reconstruction costs after the disaster are estimated at $4.78 billion. Prime Minister Balendra Shah will make his initial foreign visit to the UN General Assembly next week to address the issue of loss and damage. Nepal's disaster authority revised the missing people count to 6,150, with 1,403 bodies recovered, 105 of which have been identified. In China, 43 people were killed and 519 are missing, according to official reports. The combined death toll now stands at 1,446 people and at least 6,669 missing individuals.