Mint Quick Edit | Uttarakhand flash flood: Climate’s the big culprit

Video grabs of a downhill flash flood that swept away much of Dharali village in Uttarakhand made jaws drop on Tuesday.

An enormous barrage of water slammed into the river-gorge settlement shortly after a cloud burst over the higher reaches of Uttarkashi district.

Also read: Climate change is shrinking India’s weather forecast window, says IMD chief

Rescue and relief work is on. Tragic as this is, it’s only a harsher version of what hill states have been suffering with startling frequency.

Brick-and-mortar overbuilding with scant regard for safety has driven up risks.

Just a few days ago, India’s Supreme Court warned that Himachal Pradesh may “vanish in thin air" if we don’t stop meddling with its ecological balance.

Also read: Climate change and You: The price of comfort in a rapidly warming world

While a direct link with climate change isn’t easy to draw, rising temperatures are thought to have made flash floods a big menace in two ways.

First, melting glaciers are overwhelming many natural water dams.

Second, hotter conditions are making rain clouds so dense that they burst more often as winds force them uphill to cooler altitudes.

While construction needs to be kept in check, the real challenge is to arrest global warming.

Also read: Mint Primer: Are we spending enough to fight climate change?

It may be too late to cap it at 1.5° Celsius above the pre-industrial level, but if it reaches 2°, it may prove exponentially disastrous.