Flood Risks From Glaciers And Seas
Climate change is exacerbating potential flooding crises at high- and low elevations, new studies show.
Approximately 15 million people worldwide — more than half in India, Pakistan, Peru and China — live in the shadow of glacial lakes prone to sudden and catastrophic outbursts, according to a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications.
A separate study in Earth's Future, a publication of the American Geophysical Union, warns sea level rise will submerge more than twice as much land as previous models had projected. Because coastal elevation mapping is so expensive, the findings — obtained using laser detection from a satellite — are especially stark in developing countries where more coastal vulnerability mapping has not taken place.
(Glacial lakes: AP, Washington Post $, E&E $, CNN, Reuters, AFP, South China Morning Post, BBC; Coastal vulnerability: Inside Climate News)
(Climate Signals background: Glacier and ice sheet melt, Sea-level rise)
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