Glacial Lake Outburst Flood

The global glacial retreat caused by global warming has birthed numerous glacial lakes, all accumulating water at a rapid rate. The lakes often burst in a cascade of water and debris. One of the most devastating glofs was the Dig Tsho GLOF in Nepal in 1985. More recently, the advancing Hubbard Glacier broke open Russell Lake in 2002. Of course, both of these pale in comparison to glofs of geologic times: when Glacial Lake Missoula burst through its dam 15,000 years ago, ten times the volume of all the rivers on Earth plunged down the Columbia River drainage. Other glofs included the collapse of Glacial Lake Wisconsin and multiple drainages of the tremendous Glacial Lake Agassiz of Manitoba.