Pakistan and nearby India have been suffering from a blazing heatwave that has brought in weeks of toxic fumes and catastrophic flames. The fast melting of the Shishper Glacier in northern Pakistan, which caused severe flooding downstream, is now being put on early-season warmth.
The Hassanabad Bridge in Pakistan’s Hunza Valley was totally damaged on Saturday as a melting glacier discharged torrents of water into nearby rivers, creating a glacial lake outburst flood.
Under the tremendous weight of the rushing floodwaters, concrete blocks cracked and eventually gave way, as per the dramatic film. Such sights are more normally linked with hefty rainfall than with the results of fast-melting glaciers.
On the Karakoram Highway, a famous tourist spot known for being one of the world’s highest paved highways, the demolished bridge severed the connection between northern Pakistan and China.
The Hassanabad bridge in Hunza was in the process of crumbling as floodwaters roared below it. (Reuters)
On Twitter, law enforcement agencies acknowledged the damage to the bridge, saying that small vehicles would be redirected to Sas Valley Road.
According to Dawn.com, a Pakistani news agency, floods also took away two power plants in Hassanabad. Officials were relocating those living in flood-prone areas and distributing supplies.
NASA highlighted the Shishper Glacier in mid-May 2019, warning that a severe flood could impact the Karakoram Highway, a large number of houses in Hasanabad’s village, vital irrigation systems, and two power plants.
As per Reuters, the quantity of water at the Shishper glacier lake has risen by 40% in the last 20 days as a result of an unprecedented early-season temperature jump.
Temperatures at other high-elevation sites in northern Pakistan have continued to exceed the upper 80s and 90s F (30-37 C) during the past few weeks, considering the absence of official weather monitoring in this portion of the nation. Lower elevations further south have seen temperatures regularly exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), which is 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit (3-6 degrees Celsius) above normal.
In late April, Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Climate Change, claimed that for the first time in decades, Pakistan moved from winter to summer without much of a spring.
Following the bridge crumbling on Saturday, Rehman confirmed on Twitter that a temporary bridge would be developed in 48 hours.
“Outside of the polar zone, Pakistan has more glaciers, and many are losing volume owing to increasing temperatures,” Rehman said.
According to AccuWeather meteorologists, there is no relief in sight for the coming days in the region, with sweltering temperatures predicted to last through the middle of May.