HUNZA, Pakistan: On the steep slope of a glacier jutting through the Hunza valley in Pakistan's mountainous far north, Tariq Jamil measures the ice's movement and snaps photos. Later, he creates a report that includes data from sensors and another camera installed near the Shisper glacier to update his village an hour's hike downstream.
The 51-year-old's mission: mobilise his community of 200 families in Hassanabad, in the Karakoram mountains, to fight for a future for their village and way of life, increasingly under threat from unstable lakes formed by melting glacier ice.
When glacial lakes overfill or their banks become unsound, they burst, sparking deadly floods that wash out bridges and buildings and wipe out fertile land throughout the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalayan mountain ranges that intersect in northern Pakistan.
(For a photo essay, go to https://reut.rs/3MNU3ob)
Himalayan glaciers are on track to lose up to 75% of their ice by the century's end due to global warming, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
After all the sensors are installed, village representatives will be able to monitor data through their mobiles, Jamil said. "Local wisdom is very important: we are the main observers. We have witnessed many things."
Hassanabad is part of the U.N.-backed Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) II project to help communities downstream of melting glaciers adapt.
Amid a shortfall in funding for those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, village residents say they urgently need increased support to adapt to threats of glacial lake floods.
"The needs are enormous," said Karma Lodey Rapten, Regional Technical Specialist for Climate Change Adaptation at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Pakistan is the only country to receive adaptation funding from the Green Climate Fund - the Paris Agreement's key financing pot - to ease the risk of such floods.
While countries like Bhutan have worked with other funders to minimize the threat from glacial lake floods, the $36.96 million GLOF II scheme - which ends this year - is a global benchmark for other regions grappling with this threat, including the Peruvian Andes and China.
Since 2017, weather stations as well as sensors measuring rainfall, water discharge, and river and lake water levels have been installed under the administration of Islamabad and UNDP. GLOF II has deployed speakers in villages to communicate warnings, and infrastructure like stone-and-wire barriers that slow floodwater.
In Hassanabad, a villager regularly monitors the feed from a camera installed high up the valley for water levels in the river by the glacier's base during risky periods such as summer, when a lake dammed by ice from Shisper glacier often forms.
Pakistan is among the world's most at-risk countries from glacial lake floods, with 800,000 people living within 15km (9.3 miles) of a glacier. Many residents of the Karakorams built their homes on lush land along rivers running off glaciers.
In neighbouring India in October, floods probably triggered by a partial glacial lake burst in the Himalayas, following an avalanche and heavy rains, likely killed 179 people. Many remain missing. An early warning system was being installed near the lake, but it had not been completed.
DEADLY RISKS
Fifteen million people worldwide are at risk of glacial lake flooding, with 2 million of them in Pakistan, according to a February study published in scientific journal Nature Communications.
From 2018 to 2021, about 14 GLOFs occurred in Pakistan, but that spiked to 75 in 2022, according to UNDP.
Jamil's village had close calls from floods, according to residents and officials. Over the past three years, residents repeatedly evacuated just in time to avoid loss of life, and many fear a flood while they sleep. Others struggle financially as their land and homes were destroyed, most recently in 2022.
In Chalt village, a few hours away, a torrent of black water rushed down the valley last year. Zahra Ramzan's eleven-year old son, Ali Mohammad was swept away.
"I'm in very deep grief. I could not see my son again, even a body," said the 40-year-old.
The village has had little information about the risks, residents said. Ramzan gets nervous whenever there is heavy rain or flooding, refusing to allow her surviving children out of sight.
In Hassanabad, Jamil is trying to manage these risks. He and 23 other volunteers have trained in first aid and evacuation planning. They monitor the glacier and consult with outside experts and officials each summer.
They are hoping to receive international financing for 20 times the length of barrier wall than is currently funded. They also want interest-free loans to rebuild destroyed homes and adapt their housing with stronger material, as well as better mobile reception to access the monitoring feed.
PLEA FOR ADAPTATION FUNDING
With the U.N.'s COP28 climate summit scheduled to begin on Nov. 30, pressure is ramping up on wealthy countries to fulfil promises to help developing nations.
The Green Climate Fund said in October it had raised $9.3 billion, short of its $10 billion target.
Wealthy nations are set to meet a broader $100-billion climate finance pledge to developing countries this year, three years late and short of the actual needs, estimated by the U.N. at over $200 billion annually by 2030.
ICIMOD said changes driven by global warming to glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region are "largely irreversible." The region has over 200 glacial lakes considered dangerous.
Darkut village, also part of GLOF II, sits surrounded by mountains and glaciers above verdant plains where yaks graze. At the bottom of nearby Darkut Glacier lies a deep turquoise lake.
"Until 1978 ... this whole place was a glacier, the pool of water came later," said 75-year-old Musafir Khan, pointing at the lake that formed as the glacier receded.
Unlike the ice-dammed lake at Shisper, Darkut is formed in the soil and rock landscape left by a receding glacier.
In northern Pakistan, such moraine-dammed lakes are linked to comparatively few GLOFs, according to ICIMOD researcher Sher Muhammad, but in other parts of mountainous Asia they have been associated with higher casualty rates than ice-dammed lakes.
The risks of both types of lakes may increase, Muhammad said.
Muhammad Yasin, an environmental sciences graduate researcher at Karakorum International University, is studying the extent to which Darkut glacier is melting.
"We have (told) the community that risk factors exist in this lake, you should be aware of this," he said.
Many families have left over the years after previous flash floods, said Khan, who was born in the remote village, but hundreds rebuilt nearby.
In Hassanabad, the prospect of moving also fills many with disbelief. Their families have lived off orchard fields surrounded by soaring mountains for 400 years, growing produce and grazing livestock high in the plains. Many say they have no resources to move from the village, where their ancestors are buried.
"If the flood will cut us off, we will miss the nature of this village, our neighbours and relatives," said Tehzeeb, Jamil's 15-year-old daughter.
"Like a bird in a cage," Jamil said of moving to a city. He was open to exploring the option, but said he would focus on keeping the village alive.
"It's my responsibility to prevent the community from (facing) any disaster."
Reuters
Sun Nov 26 2023
A view of the newly built Hassanabad bridge, which replaced a bridge that collapsed when the Shisper glacier caused Glacial Lake Outburst Flooding (GLOF), in Hassanabad village, Hunza valley, Pakistan. - REUTERS
Rumah Najib boleh jadi penjara - Peguam
Rumah bekas Perdana Menteri itu boleh dijadikan sebagai penjara dan tempat tahanan untuk beliau seperti yang termaktub dalam undang-undang.
Kopi, kanvas seni Tyler Wong
Kopi ialah kanvas untuk Tyler Wong mempamerkan kemahiran dalam mencipta seni latte yang rumit namun indah.
Mayat tanpa identiti ditemukan terapung di Sungai Linggi
Mayat dipercayai seorang lelaki ditemukan terapung di kawasan Sungai Linggi berhampiran Pusat Dakwah Islamiah Paroi, di sini petang Sabtu.
AWANI Ringkas: Lawatan sempena mesyuarat khas WEF
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Negara perlu 6,000 veterinar tampung keperluan industri
Malaysia juga berhasrat untuk memenuhi nisbah seorang doktor haiwan kepada 5,000 penduduk.
Pindaan Garis Panduan Lawatan: Sekolah diharap susun semula program - Fadhlina
Semua sekolah diharap dapat menyusun semula program lawatan masing-masing berikutan pindaan Garis Panduan Lawatan Murid Sekolah.
Kerajaan proaktif tangani ajaran sesat masuk ke negara ini
Kerajaan sentiasa ambil langkah proaktif sekat penyebaran ajaran sesat ataupun fahaman yang bertentangan dengan akidah umat Islam di negara ini.
AWANI Pagi: Hari sedunia bagi keselamatan & kesihatan di tempat kerja 2024
Memahami kaitan perubahan iklim kepada isu keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan, yang diangkat sebagai tema Hari Sedunia bagi Keselamatan dan Kesihatan di Tempat Kerja tahun ini. Diskusi bersama Ts Mohd Soffian Osman, Perunding Keselamatan & Kesihatan Awam, Safety Management Academy 7.30 pagi nanti
Jualan kediaman kekal memberangsangkan - TA Global
Kenaikan harga hartanah akibat tekanan inflasi ke atas harga bahan binaan tidak menghalang hasrat rakyat Malaysia untuk memiliki rumah idaman.
Rakyat Israel desak kerajaan bawa pulang tebusan yang tinggal
Ribuan berkumpul di Tel Aviv pada Sabtu malam bagi mendesak kerajaan Israel mencapai perjanjian gencatan senjata dengan Hamas dan membawa pulang tebusan yang tinggal
Presiden Iran, Pakistan adakan pertemuan luas kerjasama
Presiden Iran, Ebrahim Raisi mengadakan pertemuan dengan Presiden Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, di kediaman rasmi Presiden di Islamabad dalam lawatan tiga hari beliau ke negara tersebut pada Isnin.
Hampir 100 maut di Pakistan ekoran hujan lebat dan banjir kilat
Hujan lebat mengakibatkan banjir kilat di Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan dan Wilayah Punjab serta Jammu dan Kashmir.
Pakistan sambut Aidilfitri hari ini, Bangladesh dan India rai Khamis
Umat Islam di Pakistan dan Sri Lanka meraikan Aidilfitri pada Rabu manakala mereka yang berada di Bangladesh dan sebahagian besar India akan menyambut perayaan itu Khamis.
Pakistan kecam serangan Israel ke atas kedutaan Iran di Syria
Pakistan mengecam sekeras-kerasnya serangan Israel ke atas kedutaan Iran di ibu negara Syria, Damsyik pada Isnin menyifatkannya sebagai peningkatan ketegangan di rantau bergolak itu.
PM Pakistan larang penggunaan karpet merah dalam acara rasmi
Larangan penggunaan permaidani merah dalam acara rasmi merupakan satu langkah kecil ke arah mengurangkan perbelanjaan di peringkat kerajaan.
5 pekerja China terbunuh dalam serangan pengganas di Pakistan
Kejadian berlaku apabila sebuah kenderaan dari Projek Hidroelektrik Dasu, yang sedang dibina oleh sebuah syarikat China diserang oleh pengganas.
Ishaq Dar dilantik sebagai Menteri Luar Pakistan
Bekas Menteri Kewangan Ishaq Dar dilantik sebagai Menteri Luar Pakistan yang baharu.
Umat Islam di Bangladesh, India dan Pakistan mula berpuasa pada Selasa
Arab Saudi mengumumkan anak bulan kelihatan pada Ahad dan Isnin merupakan hari pertama Ramadan.
Shehbaz Sharif angkat sumpah Perdana Menteri Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif mengangkat sumpah sebagai perdana menteri ke-24 Pakistan untuk penggal kedua pada Isnin.
Hujan lebat di Pakistan ragut 29 nyawa, 50 cedera
Sekurang-kurangnya 29 orang terbunuh dan 50 lagi cedera akibat hujan lebat yang melanda Pakistan dalam tempoh 48 jam lepas.