THE deadly glacier collapse along the Nepal-China border is a reminder that disasters high in the mountains can have devastating consequences for communities downstream, a Filipino Catholic leader said Friday, Aug. 28, 2026.
The disaster struck Wednesday, Aug. 26, after a massive collapse of rock and ice sent water, mud and debris rushing through Himalayan valleys in Nepal and Tibet.
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, said in a radio interview that the tragedy also showed why the effects of a warming climate can no longer be treated solely as a future concern.
“Climate change is no longer something we can speak about merely in the future tense,” David said.
“What happens high above us does not remain there. When mountains of ancient ice collapse, whole communities thousands of meters below can be swept away within minutes,” the cardinal added.
Scientists are still studying the exact sequence that caused the disaster and the extent to which climate change contributed to it. Warming temperatures, however, are known to increase instability in high-altitude glacier and permafrost areas.
Pinatubo comparison
David compared the disaster with the experience of Pampanga residents during the lahar flows from Mount Pinatubo after its 1991 eruption.
“People described it as a herd of rampaging bulls coming down from the mountain. We know what it is like to watch a mountain come down as a river,” he said.
David urged the faithful to pray for Nepal, particularly for families who lost loved ones and for those who were injured, remain missing or were displaced.
He also reminded the public of its responsibility to care for the environment.
“What we do to our common home, we ultimately do to ourselves,” David said. / PNA
