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The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

economist.com

31–40 of 91 posts

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#31
post #13

Is Switzerland exposed to similar risk, given the amount of glaciers?

Yes, but apparently they monitor the glaciers stability / Temperature closely and evacuate required

And it is at a smaller scale in the Alpes than in Himalayas. Still devastating:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YisdT5AJobk

France is actively draining some of those glacier lakes to prevent them to build up over time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B-xmvYe11U

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#32
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both figuratively and literally, this experience was the tip of the iceberg. Terrifying. People might think I'm crazy, but I'm choosing my retirement location 100% based on resistance to climate change. Local water, too much humidity for massive fires, too cold for insane heatwaves... you get it.

Which places have you found? I'm in Canada and figured most of the places are going to suffer more rain falling in the next decades.

Not unexpectedly, follow real estate prices.

The average value of homes in safe parts of Canada has risen significantly. E.g. Vancouver is devastatingly expensive, while nearby Abbotsford and Richmond are floodplains and reclaimed marsh, respectively, and are cheap. Sometimes uninsurable, but cheap.

The market will price us all out of the safest places and indeed arguably already has. Expect housing values to continue to diverge. A dry hovel is superior to the mightiest of flooded manses, but a home in a dry, safe metropolis, with enough water for all?

Literally invaluable. It will be priced accordingly.

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#33
post #12
post #6

I haven't yet been able to properly internalize the horror of this scene. Maybe because we're exposed to so many images from disaster and action movies/videogames, I got somewhat desensitized to the "graphics", so to speak. It's like my brain is denial. At the same time, I know this is real and a tragedy in an unimaginable scale. Every "little walking figure" is a full human being with dreams, fears and a rich life s…

About 18 years ago, some guy at work was laughing at a video of someone being blown to pieces by an explosive device. People kept walking by his desk and laughing, I suppose because it looked so cartoonish that it felt more like looney tunes than real life. As an experiment, I showed the same video to my 85-year old grandmother, and she cried out in horror and prayed for the people in the video for a solid hour after…

The drone footage out of Ukraine was like this. Some of it is cartoonish or like watching an action movie or video game.

It's when you recognise the humanity of the individual - for example IR footage of a soldier trying to sleep in a foxhole before a drone drops a grenade. The aftermath starkly reminders you that this was a living person a few moments earlier.

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#34
post #10
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's awful to see dozens of people running and knowing they're all gone. It wasn't even close. They were so small compared to that absolute FORCE .

This is true, and, relatedly, is the feeling I have about all of climate change. By the numbers, it won't be close. Of course, this little preview is itself anthropogenic. This horrific disaster is the thinnest tendril of the monster we have unleashed.

This event has nothing to do with climate change and is pure fear mongering.

This is the same adage used by the Governments with the "think about the children" campaigns, its a distraction. A cop out.

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#35
post #12
post #6

I haven't yet been able to properly internalize the horror of this scene. Maybe because we're exposed to so many images from disaster and action movies/videogames, I got somewhat desensitized to the "graphics", so to speak. It's like my brain is denial. At the same time, I know this is real and a tragedy in an unimaginable scale. Every "little walking figure" is a full human being with dreams, fears and a rich life s…

About 18 years ago, some guy at work was laughing at a video of someone being blown to pieces by an explosive device. People kept walking by his desk and laughing, I suppose because it looked so cartoonish that it felt more like looney tunes than real life. As an experiment, I showed the same video to my 85-year old grandmother, and she cried out in horror and prayed for the people in the video for a solid hour after…

[flagged]

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#36
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wildfire smoke will be the big question there. It's started to be bad for a week or two a year in Minneapolis, and is only worse the closer you are to the boreal forest.

Wildfires only a problem until the overgrowth is burned off. When there's not enough to sustain a large spreading fire, they will stop happening.

True, but disingenuous, as "over" growth implies a normative cap, but climate change just is moving the cap lower. The ceiling is falling: more and more growth, in every biome, counts as overgrowth.

Eventually only desert remains viable, and everything above it, including arability, is locked away forever.

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#37
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both figuratively and literally, this experience was the tip of the iceberg. Terrifying. People might think I'm crazy, but I'm choosing my retirement location 100% based on resistance to climate change. Local water, too much humidity for massive fires, too cold for insane heatwaves... you get it.

Which places have you found? I'm in Canada and figured most of the places are going to suffer more rain falling in the next decades.

Personally, I'm aiming for Pittsburgh.

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#38
post #34
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true, and, relatedly, is the feeling I have about all of climate change. By the numbers, it won't be close. Of course, this little preview is itself anthropogenic. This horrific disaster is the thinnest tendril of the monster we have unleashed.

This event has nothing to do with climate change and is pure fear mongering. This is the same adage used by the Governments with the "think about the children" campaigns, its a distraction. A cop out.

[deleted]

Re: The mechanics of the Nepali flash flood

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly there is no safe haven while humans over-consume continue to waste in the chase of excess. We have seen in the last few years all the supposed climate safe areas get hit hard. https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5137024/climate-haven-h...

birth rates are falling off the cliff in all developed nations, most are below replacement rate already

[deleted]
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