When a mountain falls: How ice and rock triggered Nepal’s catastrophic flood – and why climate change is raising the risks

A massive rockfall in the Himalayas led to a surge of flood water than swept through villages, killing hundreds of people, on Aug. 26, 2026. Prabin Ranabhat/AFP via Getty Images The catastrophic flood that killed hundreds of people in Nepal on Aug. 26, 2026, and left many more missing likely began with falling ice and

President John Dramani Mahama has called for a more practical and urgent national response to the growing effects of climate change.

Some climate scientists are cautious about prematurely attributing human caused-climate change as the sole cause of the disaster that resulted in the violent flooding of Himalayan villages in Nepal this week. But other experts say it was the kind of catastrophe they’ve been warning about for years.

Glaciers and permafrost in the Himalayas are melting faster as temperatures rise, though scientists are still studying the exact causes of this week’s landslide.

Climate change is leading to conditions that can destabilize high-mountain rock and ice, strengthening prospects for disasters such as this week's Himalayan flood along the border between Nepal and China's Tibet that killed 165, scientists say.

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