Nepal's Great Flood: A Human-Made Disaster Caused by Climate Change

Choi Young-min stated, "Currently, about 5,000 are missing and about 1,000 are reported dead." As bodies are not yet found, they are classified as missing, meaning the actual scale of the damage could be even greater.

Residents in Nepal claim that China knew about the flood in advance but failed to provide a warning, leading to greater damage. Choi Young-min mentioned, "Nepalese citizens say that China knew about this situation but didn't warn them in advance. There was a time difference of about 50 minutes, which is an enormous amount of time." Public opinion is forming that the absence of a weather information sharing system led to massive casualties.

Globally, glacier incidents are increasing, and climate disasters are becoming normalized. Damage from glacier collapse is rampant in various countries including India, Pakistan, Switzerland, and Peru. Lee Joon-taek warned, "The problem is that these incidents are becoming larger and much more terrible, and if this trend continues, even more horrific incidents will occur in the future." Glacier disappearance acts as a fatal factor threatening human survival, urging an urgent shift in climate crisis awareness and a reevaluation of life's direction.

Glaciers play a crucial role in firmly anchoring mountain soil and rock. Lee Jung-yoo explained, "Glaciers themselves, meaning ice, act as a core that firmly fixes the soil. If they melt, the soil will naturally collapse." As glaciers melt and disappear, friction between rock masses decreases significantly, increasing the likelihood of landslides. Scientists point out a tendency to overlook the continuous movement of glaciers and call for a deeper understanding of the geological instability that glacier loss will bring.

In Switzerland, for example, preventive measures include intentionally inducing landslides during peacetime to prevent major accidents.

In Nepal, suspicion is growing that China knew about the great flood beforehand but did not disclose the information. The panelists stated, "They said China was continuously monitoring with satellites. They must have seen it collapsing, and now Nepalese residents are asking why they weren't informed, and anti-China sentiment is growing very strong. Such stories are circulating." As evidence of China's satellite monitoring becomes known, anti-China sentiment is spreading among Nepalese residents.

This reality underscores why South Korea must take more active steps in addressing the climate crisis.

In the past, Earth experienced natural climate changes, such as the significant alteration of the West and South Sea topography of the Korean Peninsula due to sea-level rise 15,000 years ago. However, the current climate crisis differs greatly as it is caused by human activities. The panelists pointed out, "If that was the activity of nature itself, now humans are creating it." The scientific community views limiting the global average temperature increase to within 1.5 degrees Celsius as the 'limit,' warning that exceeding this threshold could accelerate natural feedback effects, leading to irreversible catastrophe.

When fishing grounds were destroyed in the Yeonggwang area, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KEPCO) paid compensation to fishermen. However, the panelists criticized, "Because fishing grounds are ruined, KEPCO pays them compensation. That compensation has a problem. Why? Because the ocean is being destroyed, but only fishermen are compensated." Such compensation only partially covers fishermen's losses and has a structural limit in that it cannot prevent the destruction of the marine ecosystem itself. Voices are calling for fundamental measures to protect the marine environment.

As water increases in the equatorial regions, Earth's rotational inertia increases, and according to the law of conservation of angular momentum, the rotation speed decreases. The speaker explained, "In fact, this makes the day longer. That has actually been observed." This example demonstrates the complex interactions of Earth's systems, suggesting that glacier melt is not limited to sea-level rise alone.

The concept of 'Whole Life' (on-saeng-myeong) has been proposed, viewing Earth, life forms, and the environment as a single living unit. This expands on the Gaia theory, raising the possibility of nature's retribution for human environmental destruction. The speaker stated, "That's right. What illustrates that well is actually the concept of Whole Life." This concept emphasizes that humanity, as part of Earth, must coexist harmoniously with nature, warning that indiscriminate development and destruction can ultimately harm humanity itself.

As glaciers melt, areas where the load has decreased are experiencing land uplift. In places like Alaska, visible damage such as warped houses has been reported. The speaker clarified, "So it's a possibility, but it hasn't been scientifically proven yet." This explains that the link between glacier load changes and earthquakes is still undergoing scientific validation, but it suggests the need for in-depth research into this possibility.

Criticism has been raised that the current government's energy policy is too heavily skewed towards supply. The speaker pointed out, "That's what concerns me about energy policy. It's too supply-focused." Concerns are mounting that the government is solely focused on expanding energy supply (solar, gas, coal, nuclear), while budgets related to energy efficiency are being reduced. This criticism, it was emphasized, is not simply to blame the government, but to seek the right direction for energy policy in an era of climate crisis.

The speaker offered the opinion, "Ultimately, the melting glaciers in the Himalayas cause changes in their load, which then moves the entire tectonic plate." This leads to suspicion of a connection between the Haegeum cluster earthquakes and Japanese earthquakes, and the case of the Pohang earthquake, where geothermal power generation was said to have influenced its occurrence, was recalled. Further research is needed on the impact of climate change on geological activity within the complex interactions of the Earth system.

Questions have been raised about South Korea's nuclear power plant site selection process. The speaker asked, "In Korea, is it true that nuclear power plant sites aren't selected by prior ground surveys to assess suitability, but rather by thinking, 'Oh, this place would be good to enter,' and then setting aside the area, and only later determining it and conducting environmental impact assessments as a follow-up?" This question implies a suspicion that nuclear power plant sites prioritize scenic locations over geological safety, with environmental impact assessments conducted only after site selection.

This demonstrates that, through a chain reaction in Earth's systems, climate change can be complexly linked not only to weather anomalies but also to geological disasters.

The speaker explained, "That's also, as you said, as the glaciers' pressing force weakens because they melt and disappear, the hot mantle below rises, leading to more volcanic eruptions." As seen in Iceland, crustal decompression can cause mantle magma to rise, potentially inducing volcanic eruptions. This suggests that glacier reduction can affect not only climate change but also the Earth's internal geological activity.

In the principles of science, uncertainty never implies safety. The speaker emphasized, "If a risk is uncertain, that is absolutely not proof of safety. The meaning of uncertain risk is that we don't know yet, so we must consider potential dangers and be cautious in advance." There is a need for a division of roles: the scientific community should communicate potential risks, and politicians should take preventive action based on this. Unlike Switzerland, which prevents disasters through preventive measures, Nepal's indiscriminate development logic could lead to greater catastrophe. Preparing for uncertain risks in advance is essential for human survival.

Ocean circulation is driven by temperature differences between the equator and polar regions, acting as Earth's 'boiler' to maintain a stable temperature. However, global warming is causing large amounts of freshwater from melting Greenland glaciers to enter the oceans, significantly reducing seawater salinity. The debater explained, "Now, as the Earth gets warmer, and all of Greenland's glaciers melt, a huge amount of fresh water comes in, significantly lowering the salinity. Then, because the density doesn't increase, it doesn't sink. This completely blocks ocean circulation and causes stagnation." When freshwater inflow reduces seawater density, it prevents sinking and stagnates ocean currents; recent observations show ocean circulation has already slowed by 20%. This suggests that Earth's temperature regulation function could be lost, cited as one of the severe consequences of climate change.

A fundamental question was raised about climate crisis response methods. The debater said, "As people are continuously saying in the chat, 'Are we supposed to starve? What if we don't develop?' But I want to ask if you ever think that this very logic has created the current situation." This reflects a critical perspective that the logic of prioritizing indiscriminate development has led to the current severe climate crisis. It emphasizes that it is now time for humanity to seriously consider and implement a shift in priorities for sustainable development.