In this episode we examine the catastrophic ice-and-rock avalanche and flash flooding that struck the Nepal–Tibet border region. The discussion traces how a collapse on Langtang Lirung sent immense volumes of ice, rock, and debris into steep Himalayan valleys, temporarily damming a river before a powerful wall of water surged downstream, devastating communities, schools, roads, and hydropower infrastructure.
This video was recorded on September 2nd, 2026, and published on September 6th, 2026, and represents the opinions of the discussion participants.
The panel explores the role of a rapidly warming Himalayas, where glacier retreat and thawing permafrost can weaken the ice and rock that help stabilize high mountain slopes. While the precise contribution of climate change to this individual collapse still requires detailed attribution research, the speakers explain why elevated warming, unstable terrain, intense rainfall, and narrow, densely inhabited river valleys are raising the danger of avalanches, landslides, debris flows, and destructive floods across the region. They also compare the event with the 2021 Chamoli disaster in India and discuss the limits of forecasting such fast-moving hazards.
The conversation turns to what can be done: stronger monitoring and early-warning systems, scientific collaboration across geology, hydrology, glaciology, and climate science, safer land-use decisions, and substantially greater international support for vulnerable countries. The episode also considers “derailment risk”—the way climate disasters can destroy the clean-energy and adaptation infrastructure needed to respond to climate change—and concludes with the Climate-3, covering the UN’s warning on overshooting 1.5°C, Bhutan’s Conscious Food Summit, and new evidence that heat-related deaths are substantially undercounted.
September 1-2, 2026 — Warning signs were visible ahead of Nepal-China floods, report says
Nepal floods could cost insurers over $130 million even before death, injury claims
Head teacher evacuated 900 children minutes before Nepal floods hit school
Millions of People at Risk of Glacial Lake Floods, Study Finds
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Limiting Overshoot - Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return
Bhutan hosts first ‘conscious food summit’ amid threats to global supplies
NPR spent 2 years tracking deaths from heat. We found a staggering hidden toll
Paul Beckwith - Climate Systems Scientist. Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Paleoclimatology Laboratory as well as at Carleton University.
Regina Valdez - MS in Sustainability Management, Climate Reality Leader, GreenFaith Fellow and LEED Green Associate.
Herb Simmens - Author, Co-founder of the Healthy Planet Action Coalition (HPAC), Climate Emergency Board Member and former college instructor.
Charles Gregoire - Electrical Engineer, Webmaster and IT prime for FacingFuture.Earth & the Climate Emergency Forum; Climate Reality Leader
Heidi Brault - Climate Reality Leader, BA(Psychology), Library & Information Technician Diploma - Video production and website assistant - Organizer and convener, Metadata technician, COP Team Lead for FacingFuture.Earth and the Climate Emergency Forum.
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