{
  "id": 7955447,
  "title": "Climate change helped trigger Nepal-Tibet disaster, study finds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/climate-change-helped-trigger-nepal-tibet-disaster-study-finds",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-17T05:18:59.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BBC News",
    "slug": "bbc-news",
    "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmlyrzve5pwzo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study has determined that climate change played a role in the devastating glacier collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border, which resulted in catastrophic floods and the death of over 1,400 people. Friederike Otto, a climatologist at Imperial College London and co-author of the study, stated that human-induced climate change was indeed a contributing factor in the disaster. The World Weather Attribution study, published on Thursday, found that the disaster was caused by a combination of rising temperatures, thinning glaciers, thawing permafrost, and pre-existing geological weaknesses. The collapse of a glacier slope near the peak of Langtang Lirung, a mountain in Nepal, triggered the floods, registering as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. Temperatures in the area were approximately 1.5°C warmer than usual due to human influence, while glaciers had been thinning by about half a meter per year, potentially weakening existing fractures and increasing instability. Additionally, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 2015 that triggered a rock-ice avalanche could have further weakened the underlying rock mass. Nepali authorities have called for global efforts to address climate change, as the country is both a low emitter of greenhouse gases and highly vulnerable to its effects. Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah is set to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week to discuss the disaster and climate justice.",
  "summary": "There was \"no doubt that human-induced climate change played a role here\", one of the study's authors said.",
  "key_points": [
    "Climate change contributed to Nepal-Tibet disaster, study finds",
    "Human-induced warming and glacier thinning caused instability",
    "Nepali leaders call for global climate action"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The study's findings bolster Nepal's call for global action on climate change, highlighting the country's vulnerability to its effects despite being a low emitter of greenhouse gases.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Guardian Science",
        "title": "Climate crisis likely behind devastating Nepal-Tibet floods that killed more than 1,300, first study finds",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/climate-crisis-likely-behind-devastating-nepal-tibet-floods-that",
        "published": "2026-09-16T23:01:32.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}