Experts warn of cascading glacier hazards as melt accelerates on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

Experts are sounding the alarm over an escalating "chain effect" of glacier-related disasters on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, where accelerating ice loss is turning isolated collapses into cascading catastrophes that demand stronger forecasting and better-coordinated response.

The alert follows an ice-rock avalanche originating from a high-mountain glacier in Nepal that triggered a devastating mudslide striking Gyirong Port in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Wednesday.

Glacier-related hazards are emerging as a critical challenge on the plateau. As of 2025, the region hosts over 109,000 glaciers, more than half within China, according to results from the country's second scientific expedition to the plateau. However, global warming is steadily shrinking them, and that retreat brings new dangers.

"Historically, this region had much larger glaciers, but as the climate warms, they've been steadily retreating. When a glacier withdraws to higher, steeper ground, gravity-driven fractures grow, deformation accelerates, and meltwater seeping into the ice-rock interface drives increasingly rapid slides downhill," said Hu Kaiheng, researcher at the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that global warming-driven glacial lake outburst floods averaged 15.2 per year from 2011 to 2020, triple the annual average of 5.2 recorded in the 1980s. As glaciers retreat and lakes swell, the risks of outburst floods and collapses are rising in tandem.

"We've observed that the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau is warming at twice the global average. It's extremely sensitive to global climate change --- effectively a sensor and amplifier of it. Over the past few decades, glacial lakes in the region have grown by about 20 percent, in both number and area. So going forward, we need to keep a close watch on lakes that are at risk of bursting, especially those that could potentially trigger a chain of mudslides and floods. Those should be our top priority," said Fan Xuanmei, director of the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection.

Fan stressed the need to shift from single-disaster response to integrated chain monitoring.

"We're no longer dealing with single disasters. This is a chain-reaction problem. So we must develop monitoring and early warning systems that cover the entire process, from source to downstream, and install monitoring at every link to enable full-process surveillance and alerts," said the expert.

Experts warn of cascading glacier hazards as melt accelerates on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

Europe is staring down another winter energy crunch as gas reserves are on track to hit their lowest level in 13 years, fueling "winter panic" across energy markets, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

According to the UK newspaper, the European Union (EU)’s gas storage sat at just 63 percent in the final week of August, far below the seasonal average of roughly 80 percent recorded in recent years. At the current rate of consumption and refilling, the bloc is projected to enter the winter heating season with reserves at their lowest since 2013, experts were quoted as saying.

The report attributed the shortfall to multiple converging pressures. Ongoing military conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran has disrupted energy exports from the Gulf region, making it increasingly difficult for the EU to achieve its gas storage target of 80 percent full by the start of winter. At the same time, a bitterly cold end to last winter and scorching heatwaves across Europe this summer have driven up natural gas demand for electricity generation, accelerating the depletion of already dwindling stockpiles, it said.

'Winter panic' looms over Europe as gas reserves heads for 13-year low: UK newspaper