30 Years of Satellite Imagery Reveals Glacial Lakes, Raising "Ticking Time Bomb" Warnings

[Anchor]

According to an investigation by Chinese authorities, the recent massive flood was triggered by a collapse of a glacier at an altitude of 5,200 meters above sea level. The problem is that there are more than 90,000 such glaciers in Asia's mountainous regions alone. With many of these glaciers melting to form lakes, warnings are rising that they are "ticking time bombs" in the era of global warming.

Reporter Jeong Banseok has the details.

[Reporter]

Around a glacier 5,000 meters above sea level southeast of Mount Everest, only a few small puddles of water existed in 1956.

Piecing together 30 years of satellite imagery starting from 1989 shows that the glacial lake gradually grew, doubling in surface area.

As temperatures rose, the eastern glacier collapsed, and the ice at the bottom of the lake also melted.

Based on 1962, the surface area expanded 45-fold over 50 years, and as of 2014, the maximum water depth was confirmed to be 150 meters, equivalent to a 50-story apartment building.

In Asia's mountainous regions, there are approximately 95,000 glaciers—similar in scale to the entire landmass of South Korea—along with about 25,000 lakes formed by their melting.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development projects that if global warming continues, up to 75% of the glaciers in this region could melt by 2100.

[Nie Yong / Researcher, Chinese Academy of Sciences: Over the past decades, glacial lakes have expanded rapidly in the Himalayan region along China's southern border. Observations show that the surface area of glacial lakes is increasing by about 1% every year.]

An American geologist who studied glaciers in Nepal also warned in a New York Times op-ed that glaciers along the China-Nepal border have already collapsed dozens of times since 1900, cautioning that giant glacial lakes could become "ticking time bombs."

[Felipe Ugalde / Geologist, University of Chile: It's always better to prevent things in advance rather than responding after they happen. However, averting threats from glaciers is not simple. Additional research is needed, and glacial instability must be monitored.]

The scientific community urges countries around the world to join forces in studying glacier conditions and building early warning capabilities.

(Video edited by: Jeong Yong-hwa, Design by: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.