Scientists have blamed climate change for yesterday's flash floods in Nepal. The devastating event saw rushing waters reportedly reaching up to 650ft high, sparked by the collapse of a glacier.While scientists are still studying the exact causes of the disaster, Dr Wouter Buytaert, Reader in Hydrology and Water Resources at Imperial College London, says that climate change is to blame. 'It is exactly the type of event that is triggered by climate change,' he explained. 'Global warming shrinks glaciers, making it more likely for them to break apart. Land degradation, due to increasing wildfires, extreme weather, and unsustainable land use, destabilizes valley slopes and mobilizes rocks and sediment. 'In mountain regions with steep slopes and narrow valleys, this creates the perfect conditions for events such as this.'The floods come just one month after an ominous study was published, warning that global warming could spark glacial collapse in the region. The study, led by researchers at Kathmandu University, explained: 'Across the Himalayan region, warming rates exceed the global average, intensifying climate–related hazards and associated losses contributing to the melting of glaciers and increasing the risk of GLOF [glacial lake outburst floods].'