Sattar, A., Cook, K.L., Rai, S.K. et al. (31 more authors) (2025) The Sikkim flood of October 2023: Drivers, causes and impacts of a multihazard cascade. Science. ISSN 0036-8075
Abstract
On 3 October 2023, a multihazard cascade in the Sikkim Himalaya, India, was triggered by 14.7 million m3 of frozen lateral moraine collapsing into South Lhonak Lake, generating an ~20 m tsunami-like impact wave, breaching the moraine, and draining ~50 million m3 of water. The ensuing Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) eroded ~270 million m3 of sediment, which overwhelmed infrastructure, including hydropower installations along the Teesta River. The physical scale and human and economic impact of this event prompts urgent reflection on the role of climate change and human activities in exacerbating such disasters. Insights into multihazard evolution are pivotal for informing policy development, enhancing Early Warning Systems (EWS), and spurring paradigm shifts in GLOF risk management strategies in the Himalaya and other mountain environments.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author produced version of an article published in Science, made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Mar 2025 10:54 |
Last Modified: | 06 Mar 2025 10:54 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
Identification Number: | 10.1126/science.ads2659 |
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Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:224098 |