As the planet warms, retreating glaciers contribute to the formation of unstable lakes, prone to hazardous outburst floods. Today’s study provides a vital missing piece of evidence for a ground-breaking lawsuit seeking compensation from an energy company, RWE, for climate change impacts.
This new research establishes a ‘full set’ of links from human-made greenhouse-gas emissions to the substantial risk of a dangerous outburst flood from Lake Palcacocha, high in the Peruvian Andes. This flood threatens to inundate the city of Huaraz.
Rupert Stuart-Smith, lead author of the study says, ‘We found that human influence on climate – through greenhouse gas emissions – is responsible for virtually all of the warming that has been observed in the region.
Read more at: University of Oxford
Lake Palcacocha which threatens the city of Huaraz. (Photo Credit: Cooperación Suiza COSUDE)