More than 270 people have been killed, but officials say the toll is expected to rise as rescue teams attempt to reach farther areas that have been cut off by the floods, with several key bridges and highways also devastated.With skies still clear above the Nepal-China border, and no rain pouring, officials earlier believed that a magnitude 4.4 earthquake could have triggered the downstream floods.
However, several experts and the United States Geological Survey have confirmed that “the seismic event” was a consequence of “a glacial collapse and debris flow that caused subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream” – rather than the other way around. So, what is a glacial collapse, and is this a catastrophic outcome of worsening climate change?