A geological perspective on mountain hazards in a changing world: lessons from the 2026 Nepal–Tibet disaster - Public Lecture

Mountain regions contain some of the most complex and rapidly changing hazard environments on Earth. This was clearly illustrated in August 2026, when a large rock–ice collapse high in the Himalaya triggered a rapidly evolving multihazard cascade across the Nepal–Tibet border.

Earlier that same month, our speaker, Dr Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries  - Assistant Professor in Natural Hazards at the University of Cambridge, had been in the field with Chinese and Nepali colleagues working on monitoring cross-border hazards in the region. Two fundamental questions frame research in these environments:

1. What is the baseline hazard and risk
2. How are these likely to change in coming decades?

Using the Nepal–Tibet disaster as a central case study, this talk will explore how geologists investigate complex mountain disasters, and what challenges remain. Dr Van Wyk de Vries will place the Nepal–Tibet disaster in the wider context of landslides, glaciers, volcanoes and glacial lakes, travelling from Alaskan megatsunamis to Antarctic volcanoes, and consider how climate change, landscape evolution and expanding infrastructure are modifying patterns of hazard and risk in mountain regions. The talk will conclude by considering what these events can teach us about anticipating future disasters, and why understanding connections between hazards is increasingly important for reducing their impacts.