. Physical . Interview . Advantages .

emissions
. Massive . Increasing . Humanity . loss
. Dangerous . Destroyed . Melting . honored
Thimpu: High up in the mountains of Bhutan’s north, anchient glaciers punctuate a stunning, ethereal
landscape. This landscape is a special one, enwrapped in myth and mystery. It is pristine land, largely
untouched by (1) ----. Culture-driven conversation has endured here.
The region’s tallest peaks have never been scaled by man, nor have its picturesque lakes been disturbed. It
is out of respect ---locals believe the mountains, lakes, and glaciers are deities, to be (2) ---- and feared.
Yet it is the impacts of man-made global (3)---- that is slowly destroying them nonetheless. Rising
temperatures as a result of climate change are accelerating the rate of glacial melt in Bhutan’s highlands. In
the silence of the mountain, now, danger looms---a killer that could unleash at any moment.
For some glaciers, annual retreat levels are up to 35 m, feeding (4) ----amounts of water into surrounding
lakes. The risk of these lakes collapsing in a phenomenon known as a glacial lake outburst flood or Glof has
the entire country on edge.
“With global warming, glaciers are (5)---- and our water resources are moving faster downstream. We call it
a tsunami in the sky, that can come anytime, “ said Karma Drupchu, the national director of the country’s
National Center for Hydrology & Meteorology (NCHM)
“Any kind of breach will result in a huge flood coming down the stream. It will have huge consequences
because more than 70 percent of Bhutan settlements are along the river valleys, not only loss of life, but huge
economic (6)----,” he said
Analysis by NCHM has identified 2674 glaciel lakes, of which 17 are categorized as potentially (7) ----
Further accelerated melting of the country’s 700 individual glaciers means more lakes are being formed and
the dangers for the country’s population and infrastructure are increasing.
The brunt of climate change has arrived regardless of this small nation’s resistance. For Prime Minister
Lotay Tshering, the impact on glaciers is both a (8) ---- and spiritual burden for Bhutan to carry.
“It concerns us a lot because, from a spiritual point of view, it’s not just a pool of water. Spiritually, we
believe that there is life in, we respect that and environmentally it is a fact that we are losing our glaciers to
global warming,” he told CAN in an exclusive (9) ----