Fifteen million people worldwide are at risk from flooding caused by glacial lakes, warns a new report.
And just four countries - India, Pakistan, China and Peru - account for more than half of those exposed, scientists said.
An international team led by Newcastle University academics produced the first global assessment of areas at greatest risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods - and identified priority areas.
As the climate gets warmer, glaciers retreat and meltwater collects at the front of the glacier, forming a lake.
Those lakes can suddenly burst and create a fast-flowing Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) that can spread more than 75 miles from the original site.
GLOFs can be highly destructive for property, infrastructure, and agricultural land and can lead to significant loss of life, say scientists.
They explained that the number of glacial lakes has grown rapidly since 1990 as a result of climate change.
At the same time, the number of people living in these catchments has also increased significantly.
The research team looked at 1,089 glacial lake basins worldwide and the number of people living within 50 kilometers (31 miles of them) of them, as well as the level of development in those areas and other markers of vulnerability to GLOFs.
They then used the data to quantify and rank the potential for damage from GLOFs at a global scale and assess communitiesā ability to respond effectively to a flood.
The results highlighted that 15 million people live within 50 km of a glacial lake and that High Mountain Asia - which encompasses the Tibetan Plateau, from Kyrgyzstan to China - has the highest GLOF danger, with 9.3 million people potentially at risk.
India and Pakistan have around five million exposed people ā about one-third of the global total combined.
Lead researcher Caroline Taylor, a doctoral student at Newcastle University, said: āThis work highlights that itās not the areas with the largest number or most rapidly growing lakes that are most dangerous.
"Instead, it is the number of people, their proximity to a glacial lake and, importantly, their ability to cope with a flood that determines the potential danger from a GLOF event.ā
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, also highlights Peru as one of the four countries, along with India, Pakistan and China, that account for more than half of the number of people worldwide exposed to potential danger from glacial lake flooding.
The research team point to the relative lack of research on the danger from glacial lakes in the Andes and say that further research is urgently needed to better understand the potential GLOF danger on a local level in the area.
Co-author Dr. Rachel Carr of Newcastle University added: āUnderstanding which areas face the greatest danger from glacial flooding will allow for more targeted and effective risk management actions, which in turn will help minimize loss of life and damage to infrastructure downstream as a result of this significant natural hazard.ā
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