Glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs)-mapping the hazard of a threat to high Asia and beyond

Lakes are scenic assets for any high-mountain landscape. They can, however, also be dangerous. This applies particularly to lakes in the immediate neighbourhood of or even on glaciers. These lakes are known to be prone to outbursts due to various reasons, and these high-energy events can be signifi cant threats to life, property and infrastructure and rather disastrous along the stretches further down the valleys (Ives 1986, Richardson and Reynolds 2000, Ives et al. 2010, Han et al. 2013). Globally, the glaciers are in a general state of retreat, most probably because of climatic warming (WGMS 2008). They often leave behind voids fi lled by melt water called glacial lakes which tend to burst because of internal instabilities in the natural moraine dams retaining the lakes (e.g., as a result of hydrostatic pressure, erosion from overtopping, or internal structural failure) or as a result of an external trigger such as a rock or ice avalanche, or even earthquake.