A monsoon climate means strong seasonal winds, a dry winter and a wet summer phase that lasts from June to September. There is an increasing danger of glacial lake outburst floods as global warming continues to change the fragile Himalayan environment. The monsoon rains provide ideal conditions for a rise in water levels and icefalls into hundreds of glacial lakes across the Himalayan mountain range.
Outburst floods in the high mountains mean devastating floods for the lowland countries downstream.
Glacial lake in Nepal's Annapurna region. Scientists say the effects of global warming have accelerated the rate of the formation of glacial lakes. Most the these lakes are believed to have formed during the last 50 years. Recent studies conducted in India have revealed that glacial lakes are widening in area and also increasing in number, as the glaciers are gradually melting away. Seven such lakes in Nepal Himalayas were identified as dangerous by Tomomi Yamada Hokkaido University of Japan on the basis of aerial research in 1993.