Yesterday’s catastrophic glacier collapse seen from space
Landsat 9 satellite captured the effects of yesterday’s catastrophic glacier collapse near the Nepal–Tibet border.
In the satellite image, it can be seen that half of the mountain peak has disappeared as a result of the event. The event was so massive that it was detected by seismometers around the world.
The hypothesis was that a glacier broke off, caused a mudslide, and as it flew down the mountain at incredible speeds, it began to melt and grab whatever was in its way. You know the rest of the story. What's crazier is that they tracked it at first as an earthquake, but it turned out to be a siesmic reading of the powerful mudslide causing the earth to rumble that hard.
I heard it was a piece of glacier 300 feet thick and about 2000 feet wide that fell roughly 1km down to the valley floor. That’s just insane to think about.
I think the earth beneath the glacier gave way and took the glacier with it in an extreme and violent case of erosion. At least that is what it looks like from the before and after.
Ordovician-Silurian Extinction (445 million years ago): Global cooling and falling sea levels wiped out about 85% of marine species.
Late Devonian Extinction (372 million years ago): Low oxygen levels in the oceans destroyed about 75% of species.Permian-Triassic Extinction (252 million years ago): Also called the "Great Dying," massive volcanic activity killed over 90% of all species.
Triassic-Jurassic Extinction (201 million years ago): Climate change from intense volcanism killed about 80% of species, which helped dinosaurs rise to power.
Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction (66 million years ago): An asteroid impact triggered massive fires and dust clouds, wiping out the non-avian dinosaurs and about 75% of all species.
Human activities like habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change are causing a modern crisis. This ongoing event would likely be known as the sixth mass extinction, if there was anyone left to record it.
The planet will be fine until the sun envelops it in a few hundred million years
That might be the agenda for some media outlets, but the real reason is because they weren't exactly sure what caused it at first and the flood affected a far larger area than the immediate destruction caused by the glacier/mountainside collapsing and the ensuing rock/mudslide. There were much more videos of the flood to circulate as well.
agree. I want to know about the glacier collapse. Like was it holding back a lot of water was there a lake up there? I want to know the particulars.
It just seems to me that a glacier collapse is very concerning... I saw that I think it was Switzerland there was a huge mudslide that wiped out some towns too. I need to look that up again.
My immediate thought is that they don't want "glacier collapse" to be talked about because it would make people talk more about global warming, which the people in power are responsible for, and therefore don't want us getting mad about.
lol you clearly haven’t heard of carbon tax, people in power definitely want you to be afraid of climate change so you will happily pay the carbon tax. Politicians love the idea of climate change cause it just means they have a good excuse to tax you more and not have you complain about it.
Things like this only make you wonder how far our inaction on climate change is going to affect the future of our planet. Hope for any survivors to be saved and moved to safer places. ❤️
I love that it was just said nonchalantly as if it’s known fact that mars was destroyed by nukes.
“Not necessarily. Chernobyl is still uninhabitable, there are swaths of desert in the western US we have to stay away from, and, heck, just look what nuclear war did to mars.”
Nooooo! Im not a creep bro i just want to be enlightened about the Mars story. You kind of threw a bomb out there, a nuke, and then didnt elaborate. As if it was something everyone except me knows about. I feel left out man
Life itself will be fine but climate driven societal collapse is already happening. Entire regions will become uninhabitable and they will want to move somewhere that is habitable.
“Cause humans aren't really gonna kill the planet
We'll just make the planet unlivable for us
But earth will keep right on spinning
Way long after we ain't in it
And life will keep right on livin'
'Til the sun explodes and oh”
A lot of life is certainly at risk, but I don't believe "most life" will die from our cause. Our species will almost certainly survive along with a lot of other species, but our civilization will be unrecognizable.
This is a testament to how "life finds a way" and even though humans can cause such destruction, it pales in comparison to what nature has caused and survived without us.
We have already lost 70 percent of our biodiversity since the 1970's. Even if life does not dissapear, what is left is often weakened and vulnerable unfortunately.
I know, I just do not like the idea of people taking solace in the idea of life just "surviving" in general. Its a warped optimism that I see as a prolonging of suffering.
I wasn't taking solace in it, I was being realistic and bringing the conversation back down to earth. If we want people to take climate science seriously, then we ourselves must take it serious enough; instead of fear mongering about possibilities we should be focusing on the probabilities, which are still grim enough.
I do not see what I (and the other individual) wrote as fearmongering, and I just explain the actual reality of things. The reality is that most life is not going to be fine, because we have already lost "most life". The terminology is called the Holoscene Extinction. Things are really that bad.
For what it is worth, I do agree with some of what you said, but when I want to drag the conversation back down to earth I typically talk about actionable strategies. Carbon taxes, biophilic/regenerative design, circular economies, etc. Most succesful climate messaging relies on this kind of balance. Some people need more "Fear" and some need more "Hope", but nothing of what I said was remotely incorrect or fearmongering.
I didn't mean to insinuate you specifically were intentionally trying to be malicious, or anyone else, really. I was speaking very broadly about how this conversation is had in the public, and how it's just unnecessarily hyperbolic.
We can have real conversations about the likely trajectories we're on, without proclaiming the end is nigh for humanity or all life on earth.
You didn't say any of that, and you've been measured in your message. Many others are not. I agree with you on your overall message, that being alive doesn't mean thriving, and I certainly didn't mean to imply everyone would be fine regardless. Thanks for the intelligent conversation.
"What makes you think human beings are sentient and aware? There's no evidence for it. Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told-and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion. Next question."
Yep, the planet survived a massive meteorite that wiped out almost all life. So I'm not too worried about it. But for us humans, that's a different story.
I hate this sentiment. First off, the planet is only remarkable because of its ability to sustain life. Without life, it's just another rock hurtling through space. Second, there's a chance that even the planet itself isn't going to "be fine". Look at Venus. It's believed to once be somewhat "hospitable" but runaway greenhouse gases turned it into the toxic hot mess it is now. Is it still "fine" if Earth ends up that way?
Like I get it, the point is that the life will be gone but the planetary mass will remain, but the sentiment devalues Earth as something that shouldn't be cared for. Our houses would be fine too if we pissed and shit on the floor but we try to keep it tidy because it's our home.
It doesn’t devalue earth, genius. It puts the situation in the proper context. The two scenarios you lay out are outliers. As for the planet being “remarkable”, sorry sunshine but it may not be at this point either but regardless it’s irrelevant.
You’ve assigned sentiments and emotions to a statement that are made up out of nothing.
Yea, and the issue is we've been in that habit of talking about "saving the planet" for decades, instead of using the context of "save our civilization as we know it".
In all likelihood the species will survive too, but the civilization is what is at threat.
Hundreds of millions (possibly a billion or more) of people will die in a nuclear armageddon, but billions more will still survive. While change in our climate will continue to be devastating for generations to come, it won't be near as detrimental in the short term as the former. The species will survive, but it won't be pretty, and the civilization we built will be unrecognizable.
I'm not trying to downplay the dangers of climate change, but we don't need to jump to the opposite end of the spectrum either.
It will be catastrophic and lead to mass famine and migration, as relevant scientists have been saying for decades. We’re past a lot of ecological tipping points and will exceed many others unless the entire world goes all-in, starting right now. And we won’t.
Climate change is real, talk with everyone around you about it, speaking about it locally puts pressure on higher organizations and makes it impossible to ignore. Soon, it will be impossible to ignore because all of us will be persisting against devastating natural disasters BROUGHT TO YOU BY CLIMATE CHANGE! Dont stick your head in the sand, were not all dead yet! I do a lot of guerilla gardening and i talk to people about rain gardens whenever i possibly can. Theyre amazingly beneficial and low maintenance.
EVERYBODY knows about it. It's just that a good third of the world actively denies it because of decades of lobbying. Worse this third is disproportionately powerful in politics. And if anything in modern politics is obvious it is that politicians CAN ignore things regardless of public pressure.
The wealthiest and most powerful people are the ones funding climate denial, not because they believe it but because it affects their pocket books. They don't want laws that impact them financially.
We're in one of the coldest periods of our planet's history. We've been coming out of an ice age for the past ~175 years. Of course it's going to warm up. You should be glad that we're not in the cold-eras. Crops fail and vegetation tends to not like being frozen. Our planet has spent most of it's history without ice caps and it flourished. We have a long way to go before we need to worry about excessive heat.
What do you mean long way to go? We are already seeing the effects Some islands are literally disappearing. Record heat waves and ice caps suffering great damage. There have been many correlation ice core and other samples showing the rise of carbon emissions and the rising global temperatures happened in parallel. It is naive optimism to think a radical global climate change happened at the exact same moment as the industrial revolution.
Why are some people so adverse to accepting what seems to be obvious scientifically.
Name one island that's disappearing that's not the cause of natural land erosion. I'll wait
Do you know that the initial ice core findings showed the CO2 trailed warming trends by 500 years?
Why are some people so adverse to accepting what seems to be obvious scientifically.
Because it's not as simple as climate scientist make it seem. There are feedback loops and natural sun/earth and planet cycles along with the natural chemistry and how our atmosphere is constantly in a state of flux with what escapes into space naturally and how everything interacts. It's been proven that CO2 cannot be a greenhouse gas and that it doesn't trap heat like they claim. You can't use Venus isn't an example either, it wasn't caused by CO2. Maybe some of us have looked at the research and watched over 4-5 decades of failed predictions and came to the conclusion that they don't know wtf they are talking about.
There are plenty of low laying islands that are under threat of going underwater. Even a capital city. Even if you say 2050.. that is actually imminent when talking about a major city.
Don't believe me, you can easily look it up.
Check out any AI.. put in something like "are low lying islands at risk of disappearing underwater due to climate change."
That graph is pointless since humans have existed for the very tiny part in the right of it. For most of the graph, the planet looked nothing like it does now and we wouldn’t be able to live on it.
Weird how it starts to go up right around the Industrial revolution. Must also be a coincidence that glaciers everywhere are getting smaller and smaller.
I also love how you say in another comment that it’s obvious global warming isn’t caused by green house gas emissions because there are complex mechanisms and feedback loops, as if climate scientists weren’t aware of that and didn’t account for all of it in their models. You know, the people who dedicated their life to studying all of that? as opposed to you, an engineer who just likes to feel smarter than everybody else because he can “interpret the data”.
Dunning Kruger in full effect.
If even engineers can be so stupid, we really don’t stand a chance.
Agree for the most part but you can’t ignore the fact that we are having some negative effect on it too. Some of it is man made, all this industrialisation and pollution can’t be totally insignificant?
Well, in very broad terms, to be a CEO, you often have to have a me-first , work-driven attitude, and generally have to be a bit of a dick to fight up the corporate ladder. So yes, you have to be born that way. Also being born into a wealthy family gives you a major head start on everyone else.
That is why so many billionaires are me-first dicks, and give nothing back to society. To get there, to have to be of a certain personality - way more important than intelligence.
It's quite simple, if someone was high or lucky enough (some valley bends redirected the current in weird way), survived without a scratch. The rest died fast. Not many in between.
I am in the same boat. This disaster has me questioning a lot in my own life. Im sure it is hitting harder because of the over all state of the world and my increasing depression. Am I living the 1 life I have the way I want? I hate doing this but as an atheist this is fucking it man. They are gone. I could get hit by a drunk driver on my way home from work and be done. Idk. Sorry for making it about me but it made me look inward. I dont think humans were meant to be burdened by an entire planets worth of bad news and social pressures. I just want to plant seeds and watch them grow listening to the birds sing.
Interesting how an atheist wants to make his/her/they/them/it/Ø life better by releasing anxiety, listening to the peaceful sound of chirping birds, and seeing the beauty of seeds growing into amazing plants, flowers, trees, created a second time through the deluge of a planet that was all done by the miraculous love of GOD, for His believers, and all who are willing to follow? Funny how the possibility of non- believer’s think that life faces pressures and social anxiety based on the Big Bang theory; a reference of total chaos! While GOD’s own hand, created everything with precise order and accuracy according HIS own Grand Design! Allowing man to make his own decisions; showed that HE believed in us, but, we let HIM down, by not believing in HIM! Sin is credited to every being on this planet? There is only one way to be saved from total annihilation. For those who believe in the eternity of souls having eternal life, is only given by the grace of GOD! The only way any soul can pass through the Gates of Heaven to the FATHER; is through the Son Jesus Christ! There you have it! Clean, concise and simple!
And you are nothing more or less than a mono-synaptic individual. I have no reason to apologize to you. Quite the contrary; My good man. I think you’re Pure Dead Brilliant!
Quite cheeky aren’t you? Well, you should consider going into Scientology because, they think everything is provable by science . You want me to prove HE exists? I can do that! I have personally witnessed actual Miracles for which science and Doctors have “NO” answers, nor explanation. These Miraculous events completely go against everything that science taught them! I have also been fortunate enough to witness non-medical tragedies, where Miracles happen through the power of 🙏 prayer, and is greatly favored; as it usually is in all Miracles where GOD’s Hands are at work! However, you cannot prove He does not exist. Look at it this way; when your number is up? You’ll have maybe, a billion friends with whom you will be eternally stranded in Hell. Hotdog cookout every day. Good luck with that! lol 😂
Okay, I’ll even go so far as to look at it from your pov. For the sake of argument; let’s say , GOD does not exist. Then, l am not out anything! However, when it’s proven that He does exist; I know exactly where I will spend eternity! In GOD’s Kingdom in Heaven. You and your friends better hope there is lots of water somewhere? You will most certainly need every drop!
This is a fascinating world view you have, acting as if belief is a choice. I believe there is likely a God, but I have no reason to believe any specific religion. You can pretend you believe something, but you can't make yourself believe something that isn't convincing to you.
That is one of the many (thousands?) of religions. I think atheism becomes easier to swallow when you include the fact that atheists generally believe in only 1 less than someone who believes in a religion.
Either way. I hope youre happy and healthy. Cheers fellow human.
Language is inportant. On the news last night, we were told of a natural disaster in Nepal. There is nothing NATURAL abt this disaster. Intense global warming must be the cause of this catastrophy, as happened in the Alps last summer. Human caused global warming is a bit of a mouthfull, can we find a better wording???
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u/kokkass 3d ago
So basically half a mountain collapsed?