Michael Mann writes:

For millennia, the high peaks of the Himalayas were held together by an invisible, frozen cement – permafrost and glacial ice that bound ancient rock into seemingly unshakable fortresses. But as the planet continues to warm, this alpine glue is liquefying.

The glacial collapse and deluge in Nepal and Tibet was not a freak weather event; it was the structural failure of a mountain itself, nature’s latest commentary on the deadly consequences of human-caused planetary warming. And it was the exclamation point on a summer of extremes, illustrating with a sole unnatural disaster the apocalyptic future that lies in store if we fail to take dramatic climate action.

As the death toll continues to mount – the latest count showed more than 900 dead and more than 4,400 individuals missing – this event has crystalized the climate crisis for many.

One reason is undoubtedly the sheer horror of what unfolded here. Chilling surveillance and eyewitness footage captured the horrific moment a 40mph wall of “liquid concrete” violently overtook fleeing crowds, instantly swallowing entire families and burying them beneath feet of thick, red-soaked silt. Another reason, however, is that the connection with climate change was unassailable in this case. [Continue reading…]