Сatastrophic Phenomena in the last Decades Associated with the Degradation of Glaciers and Permafrost in Mountains (Analytical Review)

Based on the analysis of Earth remote sensing materials and publications, data on catastrophic manifestations of dangerous natural processes associated with the degradation of glaciers and mountain permafrost caused by climate change are presented. Amid accelerated rates of glacier degradation, catastrophic manifestations of their dynamics are more often observed—detachment of glaciers and ice avalanches, ice-rock avalanches. In the Central and Western Caucasus, there is an intensification of rock and ice-rock avalanches, the maximum of which had a runout distance of up to 11.3 km (on Mount Kazbek in 2014), with an affected area of 3.2 km² (in the Aksaut gorge in 2022). In 2021–2022, there were catastrophic glaciers detachments and icestone avalanches on the Marmolada mountain in the Alps, in the Juuku gorge in the Tien Shan and in the Ronti Gad River valley in the Himalayas. The Sedongpu glacier detachment in Eastern Tibet in 2018 had the maximum volume (130 mln m³). Melting of ice in moraine pedestals (massifs of mountain permafrost) leads to the formation of debris f lows of gigantic runout volumes, reaching 300 mln m³ or more. The blocking of underground drain channels inside rock glaciers is associated with the accumulation of water in long-empty basins and the formation of lakes with their subsequent catastrophic outburst. The processes occurring in glaciers and moraine complexes often have an inherited and interdependent nature and a long period of preparation, which allows on the basis of constant monitoring using satellite images to identify prognostic signs and warn in advance of the imminent danger.

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