Fire and ice

It is not only in connection with climate change that glaciers pose a threat to people and assets. The effect of other events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions may also be exacerbated by snow and ice.

For example, several thousand people lost their lives in Peru in 1962 and 1970 when earthquakes loosened tremendous masses of snow and ice from the summit glacier of the 6,768-m Huascarán. In 1985, when the Columbian Nevado del Ruíz volcano erupted, lava and hot ash thawed large sections of a glacier. 23,000 people died in the resulting lahar (volcanic mudflow).

The eruption of the Bardarbunga-Grimsvötn volcanic system beneath Iceland's Vatnajökull Glacier in 1996 caused a gigantic meltwater flood (Icelandic: jökulhlaup), causing losses of between US$ 10m and 15m.