Moving ice: Are Himalayan glaciers changing lanes?

Climate change is aggravating the melting of glaciers across the world, raising ocean water level and the fear of floods. This winter, scientists spotted a rare and scary event in the Himalayas. A glacier has abruptly changed its main course. But what can this mean for us?  

Where has the Indian glacier changed its course?  
A glacier is frozen ice. Changing course is neither as sudden nor as noticeable as a river.  Indian researchers studying an unnamed glacier in the upper Kali Ganga valley of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district were therefore surprised when they noticed that the glacier had abruptly changed its course. They are attributing it to tectonic movement and climate change, a recipe for natural disaster. The study conducted by a team of scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun was published in the Geosciences journal. They said a 5 km long glacier in the Kuthi Yankti valley (a tributary of Kali river) has abruptly changed course. The northeast moving glacier is now going southeast to merge with the adjacent Sumzurkchanki glacier.   

What is the immediate result of the glacier changing course?  
On February 7, 2021, a massive disaster at Chamoli killed well over 200 people. Scientists have discovered that the tragedy began from the six km-high peak of Mount Ronti, where a large mass of ice and rock got dislodged, and went down the slope, triggering a massive landslide, which in turn transformed into a mud and debris flow. Coming downhill like lava, this debris flow generated a powerful air blast that flattened nearly 20 hectares of forest and killed everyone in its path.  

How was the Chamoli landslide related to the glacier? 
The Chamoli disaster showed how the rock mass on which the glacier was sitting gradually became weathered. Meltwater accumulated in its crevasses, and constant rounds of freezing and thawing, snowfall, overload of snow, untimely rain, and tectonic movement all worked to disintegrate the rocks on top from the mass below. It’s a case of the earth actually moving, with life-destroying consequences.  

What can we do to avoid disasters from moving glaciers?  
We cannot control tectonic movements. Earthquakes are beyond our powers. But climate change is a result of our actions, as is pollution and indiscriminate construction. It’s not just houses, governments greedy for profit from tourism have built roads, dams and infrastructure indiscriminately. Unless we stop activity that damages nature, we are in for more disasters.