Just nowClimate change likely played a role in the disaster, experts sayWhile it will take time to determine the exact cause of the mudslide and flood disaster, analysts say climate change is likely to have played a role.The Himalayan region — which includes Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, China and Afghanistan — is among the places most vulnerable to climate change in the world, with temperatures rising faster than the global average. Rising temperatures are accelerating glacial melt, further destabilizing a region that is already prone to floods, landslides and earthquakes.They could also increase the likelihood of glacial collapses, like the one that occurred yesterday. The disaster is thought to have begun when a massive amount of ice and rock crashed into the valley below, setting off catastrophic floods that wiped away roads, buildings and entire villages.“We will not be able to attribute 100% that this is because of climate change, because these changes have been happening” over a long period of time, said Neera Shrestha Pradhan, an expert at Nepal’s International Center for Integrated Mountain Development. But climate change might be breaking a threshold, she said, and “maybe that might be one of the causes of this happening.”1m ago / 1:41 AM EDTDeath toll rises to 469, Nepal police sayAuthorities in Nepal have recovered a total of 469 bodies after a catastrophic flood tore through the Himalayan border region between Nepal and China’s Tibet region, Nepal’s police said Friday morning local time on X.Hundreds of others have been rescued, officials said, including dozens who received medical treatment at hospitals in the capital, Kathmandu.3m ago / 1:40 AM EDTRescuers working round the clock in hard-to-reach areas to comb for survivors, U.N. saysRescuers are working “day and night” to search for survivors amid challenging conditions, a U.N. official said.“The roads are destroyed and so it’s extremely, extremely difficult to have access,” Lila Pieters Yahia, the U.N. resident coordinator in Nepal, said at a news conference. “We have electricity which has been disrupted, about 10% in the total area. And in total, we have about 10,000 households, which are in immediate need.”About 25 miles of road have been damaged, she said.“The government has established a relief fund and already the World Bank, India, China and the U.S. have committed to pledge $229 million to support,” she said, adding that the U.N. is also providing $2 million from its humanitarian relief fund for immediate assistance.3m ago / 1:40 AM EDTGlacier section that fell was almost twice the height of the Burj Khalifa 3m ago / 1:40 AM EDTFamilies wait in agony as Nepal floods leave hundreds missingThe last time Radhika Sharma heard from her parents, they had just crossed from Nepal into Tibet.Ramesh Sharma, 65, and Neelam Sharma, 64, who live in New York and are U.S. citizens, were making a religious pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a peak in Tibet considered sacred by Hindus, Buddhists and other faiths. Shortly after their border crossing Wednesday, a towering torrent of water, rock and mud tore through the same Himalayan corridor.Videos from the hardest-hit border regions showed people running as the debris flow swallowed buildings and vehicles, devastated towns and settlements, and severed roads, power and communications. The suspected collapse of a melting glacier shook the ground so violently that seismic monitors initially registered it as a magnitude-4.4 earthquake.Read the full story here.3m ago / 1:40 AM EDT