Glacier Collapse Triggers Catastrophe... China and Nepal Launch Joint Investigation

[Financial News] China and Nepal have launched a joint field investigation to determine the cause of the massive floods in August.
According to China Central Television (CCTV) and Xinhua News Agency on the 5th, Chinese experts from the jointly formed emergency scientific investigation team for geological disasters departed Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the previous day and headed for Nepal.
Wang Qingshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Bishal Upreti, an academician of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, are serving as the investigation team's joint chief scientists. More than 50 researchers from about 10 universities and research institutions, including China University of Geosciences, the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Chengdu University of Technology (CDUT), Nanjing University and Sichuan University, are taking part.
Over approximately 20 days, the team will investigate areas spanning disaster sources in Nepal, affected regions in both countries and downstream areas. It will determine how glacier and rock collapses in Nepal developed into large-scale debris flows and floods, while also assessing the risk of secondary disasters.
To that end, the team plans to use drone surveys, helicopter reconnaissance, field geological investigations and sample collection to trace how glacier and rock collapses progressively led to the movement of sediment and rocks, debris flows and floods.
The team will also analyze the patterns of erosion, transport and deposition that emerged as sediment and rocks moved. This will help reconstruct the disaster's progression and establish the scientific basis needed to rebuild affected areas.
Hou Mingcai, vice president of Chengdu University of Technology, said, "As global climate change increases the risk of cross-border cascading disasters involving glacier and rock collapses, this investigation will identify the changes from the disaster's source to downstream areas and map sediment distribution. It will also secure field data needed to prevent disasters in downstream areas."
[email protected] Hong Chae-wan Reporter