Warnings Across the Himalayas After Nepal Floods

The catastrophe set off alarms in a region with thousands of glaciers spanning eight nations. Better monitoring and cooperation between the countries could save lives, experts say.

Glaciers are melting across much of the Himalayas. Long-frozen ground, known as permafrost, is thawing. A raft of disasters is menacing tens of millions of people who live in the countries that span the world's highest mountains: landslides, bursting lakes, swollen rivers so forceful they wash away entire communities.

Now, three weeks after a glacier collapsed, unleashing flash floods that left more than 8,000 dead or missing in Nepal and China, experts are urging national and local leaders across the region to prepare better for the next catastrophe. That includes more robust monitoring of their shared mountains and rivers, exchanging data with each other, and putting in place early warning systems and evacuation plans.

"We need a lot more data-sharing and communications across these national borders," said Miriam Jackson, who studies Earth's frozen parts, or the cryosphere, as a research scientist for the Norwegian government. "We are going to see more and more of these events," she added. "The cryosphere is changing very quickly. We have more and more people living quite close to these hazards. And we need more knowledge."