Glaciers are melting due to global warming. And the water released by them sometimes threatens to drown the population. This happened a few days ago. in Alaska. And France is no exception to this. here’s why.
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of the so-called glacial flood. Understand a flood that results from the overflow or break of a glacial lake. This has happened surprisingly recently in Alaska (USA). The Mendenhall River breached its banks, uprooting trees, forcing evacuations, and destroying homes along the Juneau shore. Fortunately there will be no casualties.
More spectacular glacial floods with global warming
this year. Because the overflow of the so-called Suicide Basin Lake has actually been happening every year since 2011. But the magnitude of the flood was never this much before. The water level rose by more than 4.5 meters in a matter of hours!
For some time, local officials had been preparing for such flash floods. In the context of global warming, scientists had already warned. So what?
Geophysicists explain that every summer, melting snow and rainwater collect here in a huge valley, the Suicide Basin. This basin was formed by a glacier that retreated due to climate change. When enough water accumulates there, the nearby Mendenhall Glacier begins to float. The immense pressure of the water then creates cracks in the ice. Cracks that get bigger with the flow of water. And this phenomenon is self-amplifying. until Mendenhall Lake and the river overflowed.
France is also at risk from the glacial flood
Due to global warming, scientists believe that Mendenhall Glacier is shrinking. The natural barrier created by this is fast becoming fragile. In 2020, a part of this dam broke, leaving huge icebergs. However, despite warnings that climate change will increase the risk and the area is being closely monitored, scientists are unable to predict when or whether a flood like the one a few days ago might occur.
A few months ago, a study revealed how this type of brutal flooding from glacial lakes now threatens at least 15 million people around the world. At this time, work is underway near Chamonix in the Alps, to avoid glacial flooding. Bossons Glacier is melting due to global warming. And upstream of Tignes a lake has formed. Excavators are working to dig a channel so that the water can flow easily.
Remember that in 1892, the sudden release of about 100,000 cubic meters of meltwater from the Tete-Rousse glacier killed more than 175 people!
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