Tsunami of dirt: what caused Nepal’s deadly glacial flood?

Prakash Mathema/Getty More than 150 people are dead and hundreds more missing after an enormous wave of water, ice, mud and rock cascaded more than 170 kilometres down the Bhote Koshi River valley in Nepal. The valley is the main link between Kathmandu in Nepal and Lhasa in Tibet. At least 34 Australians are missing. There was little warning. Footage of the debris-laden flash flood is shocking. It is, unfortunately, not surprising. As an expert in glaciers, I have tracked their accelerating…