Experts for the first time closely monitored the phenomenon of explosive floods in Catalina glacier lake, opening up the prospect of a huge source of green energy.
In just over two weeks, from September 23 to October 11, more than 3,000 billion liters of water overflowed from Lake Catalina in East Greenland, IFL Science reported on December 18. This is the first time scientists have closely followed such an event, and the information obtained could help understand more about how floods cause damage elsewhere in the world.
Catalina is a glacial lake located in a valley blocked by the Edward Bailey Glacier. Water has accumulated in the lake for the past 20 years, but recently reached a tipping point, causing the glacier to lift. A 25km long tunnel naturally formed in the ice, channeling a huge amount of water from the lake towards the world’s largest fjord, Scoresby Sound. In Catalina Lake, the water level dropped sharply by 154 m.
The entire process was closely monitored by a group of scientists from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen using real-time satellite images. “In this case, the energy released from the glacier flood is equivalent to the output of the world’s largest nuclear power plant operating at full capacity for 22 days,” said Aslak Grinsted, climate researcher at the Niels Bohr Institute , said.
This event is called a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), which can result from natural causes such as water accumulation, erosion, heavy snow or rain, earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions. GLOFs can also arise from human-caused climate change, as glaciers melt as temperatures rise. “The danger from lakes surrounded by ice dams is increasing due to global warming. Improving understanding of this phenomenon is important, helping to provide timely warnings if a risk occurs,” Grinsted explained. prefer.
The latest flood in East Greenland is fortunate that there is little population around, so the risk to humans is very small. However, the world has many glacial lakes located near populated areas. A 2023 study concluded that 15 million people around the world are at risk of deadly glacier floods, mainly in India, Pakistan, Peru, and China.
However, not all are pessimistic. Researchers point out that the huge amount of energy released from GLOF opens up prospects for exploiting green energy. The recently released energy from the Catalina Lake event can continuously provide 50 MW of electricity, enough to meet the needs of a small town. Building the infrastructure needed to harness energy in a place like Greenland isn’t easy, but the idea is remarkable.