Fresh Nepal Flash Flood Renews Himalayan Hazard Concerns

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) is a mountain system stretching about 3,500 kilometres across South Asia. It feeds major rivers that billions of people depend on. The Himalaya is a geologically young, tectonically active range. It formed when the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. This origin makes its slopes naturally loose and unstable. The Western Ghats, by contrast, are older and more stable. Landslides there are triggered mainly by heavy monsoon rainfall soaking lateritic soil until it loses grip. Deforestation and construction on steep hillsides worsen this. Both regions face slope failure, but the triggers differ fundamentally.

Bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have documented that high-altitude Asia is warming at roughly 0.3°C per decade, nearly twice the global average. This warming is uneven. The western Himalaya is heating faster than the central and eastern stretches. Winter and night-time temperatures are rising the fastest. This accelerated warming is now reshaping the nature and frequency of mountain hazards across the region.

Nepal illustrates the justice dimension of this crisis. Nepal contributes only about 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it suffers some of the worst climate-driven mountain disasters. This creates a strong basis for 'loss and damage' claims, meaning compensation from major emitters to help vulnerable countries cope with climate harm they did not cause.