Climate Change Floods

Indus river inundation, photo-animation August 4-28, 2022 (credit: NASA Landsat satellite)

Droughts in the western USA: fires in Europe; plagues everywhere, and Biblical floods conjure images from the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The South Asian nation of Pakistan has been especially hard hit and all indications point to the extreme weather events being amplified by climate change.

In the high valleys of the Karakorum mountains, glacial lakes have formed and then burst into torrents that have destroyed entire villages, agriculture, and critical infrastructure. Seasonal monsoons have dropped so much rainfall that more than 30% of the country is now underwater. The costs for repairs is not known but could likely be in the billions of dollars, if it is even be possible. Videos and satellite imagery capture the scale of destruction more vividly than narrative. WHB