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🇰🇷 South Korea /Environment & Climate

Himalayan glaciers overwhelmed by warming: Um Hong-gil warned of floods for 18 years

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Mountaineer Um Hong-gil said he feared a major flood when he visited Nepal’s Rasuwa area two months ago, and that flooding later struck the region.
  • He has warned since 2008 that glacial lakes threatened Himalayan communities, roads and mountain routes as global warming accelerates glacier loss.
  • An EBS documentary in which he discussed the danger surpassed 5 million YouTube views within four days of being reposted.

When Um Hong-gil visited Nepal’s Rasuwa area two months ago, the narrow valleys and a border checkpoint built over a waterway left him worried about what a sudden surge could do. After a major flood struck the area, the mountaineer said his fears had become reality.

I always had the thought in my mind that glacial lakes were like ticking time bombs.

— Um Hong-gilHe described his long-standing concern about the dangers posed by glacial lakes.

“I thought that if something came down hard from above, a huge water bomb could cause real damage,” Um said on JTBC’s “Newsroom.” He described the situation as devastating, frightening and overwhelming. He had crossed through the Rasuwa-Gyirong border area in late May or early June, the same region swept by flooding on Aug. 26.

Um said the gorge was extremely narrow and shaped like a V. He questioned how such a large road and commercial district had been built in the confined terrain. The border checkpoint, he said, stood in the path of water. He also saw signs of water damage on the Chinese side after crossing the border, where large numbers of pilgrims were waiting.

If something came down hard from above, a huge water bomb could cause real damage.

— Um Hong-gilHe recalled his concern during a recent visit to Nepal’s Rasuwa area.

The 66-year-old, who completed climbs of all 14 Himalayan peaks above 8,000 meters in 2007, has warned about glacial lake hazards since 2008. In a 2009 lecture, he said rapid warming was melting snow and glaciers on Himalayan peaks, frequently damaging mountain villages, routes and roads. In a 2014 EBS documentary, he described glaciers increasingly hidden beneath rocks, soil and sand, and said climate change was advancing at a frightening speed with enormous destructive power.

With rapid warming, the snow and glaciers on the high Himalayan peaks are melting quickly, frequently causing human and material damage as mountain villages, routes and roads are washed away.

— Um Hong-gilHe made the warning during a 2009 lecture on climate change and the Himalayas.

EBS reposted the documentary, “Himalayan Catastrophe, Glacial Tsunami,” on YouTube on Aug. 27. It drew more than 5 million views in four days, renewing attention to Um’s long-standing warnings about climate change in the Himalayas.

Climate change is progressing at a frighteningly fast speed and has enormous destructive power.

— Um Hong-gilHe described what he observed in the Himalayan glacier region in an EBS documentary.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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