Nepal, Sept. 11 -- Do not mistake glaciers for mere frozen lakes. They are time capsules holding Earth's history. Snow that fell thousands of years ago compacts into ice; in doing so, it traps whatever was suspended in the atmosphere at the time: dust, pollen, bacteria, fungal spores, parasitic eggs and viral particles.

The Bhotekoshi flood of August 26 was the second major glacier flood in Nepal in the last 14 months. In early July 2025, a transboundary glacial flood triggered by a supraglacial lake outburst in China's Gyirong County destroyed the Nepal-China Friendship Bridge, claimed several lives, crippled critical infrastructure and halted the vital trans-Himalayan trade corridor for weeks. While Nepal knows the hazards of a melting...