Deadly Disaster in India After Glacier Bursts—A Sign of Existential Danger to Humanity from Global Warming

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On Sunday morning, February 7, a glacier in the Himalayan mountains of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand suddenly burst. This sent massive flows of water and debris that smashed into and mostly swept away two dam projects. According to an NBC News report as we post this, at least 150 people are feared dead, many of them workers at the two dams. A survivor, who lived in one of the villages hit by the flood, told Reuters news agency that he saw a wall of rock, dust, and water roaring down a river valley: “It came very fast. There was no time to alert anyone. We have no idea how many people are missing."

A New York Times report noted, “Scientists, who said the breaking of a glacier in the middle of the winter appeared to be a result of climate change, have warned that rising temperatures are melting the Himalayan glaciers at an alarming pace.” These disappearing glaciers are a source of water for tens of millions of people. And the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas and elsewhere around the world is just one manifestation of the accelerating global climate crisis, driven by the working of the capitalist-system, that is hurtling toward a point of no return and catastrophe for humanity and ecosystems on the planet.

In this light, it’s all the more urgent for everyone deeply concerned about the state of the world and of the planet to get hold of and seriously wrangle with the New Year’s statement by Bob Avakian: A New Year, The Urgent Need For A Radically New World—For The Emancipation Of All Humanity.

 

 

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