Himalayas Gets More Dangerous With More Rain and Less Snow, Damages Nearby Regions With Landslides and Flash Floods

Due to landslides and flash floods, dozens of people in India's Himalayan region have been killed this month. Some areas in Nepal and Pakistan were also damaged, with homes and buildings buried by intense rainfall. Experts report that the ecologically fragile region has become more prone to disasters triggered by various factors.

Treacherous Mountain Regions

At least 72 people have been killed this week in India due to days of relentless rainfall. Heavy monsoons triggered landslides and flash floods, which submerged roads, washed away establishments, and left residents looking for safety.

In the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, rescuers have been battling against challenging weather conditions to save people trapped under mud and debris. The country's weather department has placed the state on high alert as they expect the torrential rain to continue over the next few days.

Over 700 roads were flooded and blocked, while schools in Shimla were forced to shut down as the Indian disaster-response team evacuated residents from low-lying areas. Videos on social media show trees falling apart as houses built on top of hills collapsed successively.

Meanwhile, a Hindu temple collapsed in Shimla amid landslides, and government authorities fear that some people are still buried under the debris. The death toll is expected to increase since the temple had been crowded with devotees.

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu reports that rebuilding the infrastructures damaged by this heavy rainfall will likely take one year. It will also be a challenge to claim the loss of properties and livelihood, estimated to be about $.2 billion. As of now, almost 2,000 people rescued using helicopters and motorboats are now safe in relief camps.

Last month, over 100 people were killed by record monsoon showers that hit northern India, including Himachal Pradesh. Disasters like these due to landslides and floods are common in India's Himalayan north, especially from June to September when the monsoon season occurs. Scientists believe that they become more frequent as global warming increases.

Undetected Himalayan Hazards

A study conducted in June revealed that mountains across the planet are experiencing more rainfalls in areas where it has mostly snowed in the past. Global warming has made the mountainous regions more dangerous as higher temperatures bring stronger rains and accelerate snow and ice melting. As the soil is loosened by rainwater, it floods, landslides, rockfalls, and debris flows.

The research findings offer evidence of amplified rainfall at high altitudes induced by global warming. This is prevalent in the regions of the Northern Hemisphere, which is dominated by snow. The result is also consistent with a special report released in 2019 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which revealed the decrease in snowfall at lower elevations of mountainous regions, partly due to higher temperatures.

Lead author Mohamed Ombadi disclosed that the risk is higher for the Himalayan region than other mountainous regions, such as the Alps and the Rockies in the northern hemisphere. This is because this area has additional warming-related processes that alter wind patterns and storm pathways, which increase their intensity.