Month: September 2026

The August 26 Nepal flash flood has exposed major gaps in the Himalayan region’s early warning systems, with experts warning that existing networks are often designed for known hazards and may fail to detect sudden, complex events. The disaster began when a partial glacier collapse near Langtang Lirung triggered a powerful flash flood and debris flow that travelled roughly 100 km downstream. The event damaged villages, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure, while also creating temporary barrier lakes that complicated rescue efforts. Dr Farooq Azam, senior cryosphere specialist at ICIMOD, said current systems are largely focused on glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). In Nepal, however, there was no lake involved the failure occurred beneath a rocky surface, making visible war...

  Nepal devastating flash floods have killed at least 1,259 people and left more than 5,000 missing, as rescue teams continued operations for a ninth consecutive day across flood and landslide hit areas. The disaster, triggered by an ice rock avalanche near the Nepal Tibet border on August 26, sent huge volumes of water, mud and debris through settlements in northern and central Nepal. The destruction has cut roads and communication links, severely complicating relief and rescue efforts. According to Nepalese authorities, the number of missing people rose sharply to 5,083 on September 3. Chinese state media reported another 21 deaths and 541 people missing in Tibet, taking the combined toll from the disaster to 1,280 deaths and 5,624 missing. Chitawan recorded the highest ...

  The UN summit on desertification ended in Mongolia without resolving demands for greater participation by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities or advancing stronger coordination among the global conventions dealing with land, climate and biodiversity. The 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17), held in Ulaanbaatar, had been expected to build on a decision taken at COP16 in Riyadh in 2024 to create dedicated caucuses for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Instead, those caucuses were not operationalised and their terms of reference were pushed to COP18, leaving Indigenous communities without the formal participation mechanism they had been promised. For communities living on the frontlines of dese...

  The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken up a series of environmental matters involving sewage treatment in Delhi, wetland protection in Bhopal and alleged pollution from an ethanol plant in Karnataka. In Delhi, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has told the NGT that progress on intercepting and treating sewage from identified drains is being delayed in several locations because of pending permissions and the lack of technically feasible discharge points. The DJB said five of the 22 drains identified for trapping have been completed. Work on a modular decentralised sewage treatment plant at Hill View Sewage Pumping Station in Vasant Vihar is underway and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2026. For eight drains associated with jhuggi-jhopri clusters, the DJB said it ...

  Parts of Chile Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth were covered in snow in August 2026 after an unusual series of winter storms swept across northern Chile. NASA satellite imagery captured the rare transformation showing snow extending from the Andes across the normally arid desert and approaching the Pacific coast near Antofagasta. The snowfall was particularly notable for the distance the weather system travelled across the desert. One storm affected the high altitude Chajnantor plateau home to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Heavy snow and strong winds forced the observatory to suspend operations and place its antennas in protective mode. A second storm later in August carried snow much farther west, crossing the heart of the Ata...

The devastating floods that struck Nepal’s border with Tibet have raised concerns in India, where several major rivers originating in Nepal flow into the northern plains. Experts say the disaster is a warning not simply because floodwaters cross the border, but because India and Nepal share an increasingly volatile Himalayan river system. Nepal has more than 6,000 rivers and streams, most of which drain southwards into India and eventually the Ganges. The Kosi, Gandaki, Karnali and Mahakali are among the major transboundary river systems, while smaller rivers such as the Bagmati, Kamala, Rapti and Babai can produce rapid and unpredictable floods. Bihar faces the greatest exposure. Nearly three quarters of north Bihar is classified as flood prone with major rivers including the Kosi, ...

  A European research project is developing a portable sensor system that could detect multiple pesticides in surface and groundwater on site, helping authorities respond faster to pollution triggered by floods, heavy rain and landslides. Researchers are developing a next generation sensor system that could detect pesticide pollution in water in real time, potentially helping authorities respond faster to contamination caused by floods, heavy rainfall, droughts and other extreme weather events. The technology is being developed under the STARDUST project, coordinated by SINTEF in Norway, with researchers from Norway, Romania, Poland, Ireland and Denmark. The project aims to develop an optical sensor capable of detecting multiple pesticides in both surface water and groundwate...

  Portland, Oregon long term shift to energy efficient LED street lighting has delivered significant environmental and financial benefits with the city streetlights and traffic signals now using substantially less energy than they did two decades ago. The city major LED conversion began in 2014 following approval of an $18.5 million general-obligation bond by the Portland City Council in 2012. The programme focused on replacing about 45,000 older high pressure sodium streetlights with LED fixtures. Portland owns more than 50,000 streetlights, including thousands of overhead fixtures illuminating residential streets, major roads and arterial corridors. The city says LED fixtures use about half the energy of the older lights they replaced and have a much longer operating life, ...

  A devastating mudflow that struck Boston village in Kyrgyzstan’s Suzak district in 2024 has highlighted the enormous financial and social burden disaster recovery places on vulnerable mountain communities. According to a case study by sociologist Salavat Baktybek, families affected by the mudflow faced repair costs equivalent to nearly 16 times their average monthly income, forcing some households to cut spending on food, healthcare and education. The fast moving mudflow swept through the village in the Jalal Abad region during the spring of 2024, destroying homes, barns and agricultural fields within hours. Repair costs far exceed household incomes The research examined 15 households and three local officials in Boston village to understand how families were coping a...

Drone mapping is emerging as a valuable tool for helping cities better understand and prepare for growing disaster risks, particularly as rapid urban development changes landscapes faster than traditional maps can be updated. High resolution drone imagery can capture buildings, roads, drainage systems, slopes and vegetation in greater detail. When combined with GIS, flood models and infrastructure data, this information can help planners identify vulnerable areas and make more informed decisions. Research in the United States highlights several applications. In Virginia, drone imagery has been used alongside flood modelling to assess how changing urban environments influence flood risk. In Houston survey grade drones helped researchers identify building level flood vulnerability by m...