When the mountains fall: Melting glaciers are warning world can’t ignore

New Delhi, May 31: On 28 May 2025, the peaceful Swiss village of Blatten, nestled in the snowy Alps, vanished in seconds. As reported by the BBC, the disaster was caused by the collapse of millions of tonnes of rock and ice from the Nesthorn mountain. More than nine million cubic metres came crashing down, completely burying the village under a sea of debris. The impact was so powerful that it was picked up by earthquake sensors across Switzerland.

The BBC reported that the village’s 300 residents, along with their livestock, had already been evacuated. Scientists had noticed that the Birch glacier above the village was under stress from falling rocks. Everyone hoped the situation would remain under control. But no one expected such a massive and sudden collapse. “It was the worst case that could happen,” said Matthias Huss to BBC, a top glacier scientist at Zurich’s Federal Institute of Technology. “I was speechless.”

Just a day later, far away in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, world leaders gathered for a major international conference on glacier preservation. The event aimed to find ways to protect the world's fast-disappearing glaciers, the very same forces of nature that had just destroyed Blatten.

At the conference, India’s Environment Minister, Kirti Vardhan Singh, delivered a clear warning: glacier melt is not a future threat, it’s a present danger. He pointed out that melting glaciers affect water supplies, ecosystems, and the livelihoods of billions of people, especially in countries like India that depend on the Himalayan glaciers for freshwater.

India, home to the third-largest glacier system in the world after the Arctic and Antarctica, is already feeling the effects. These efforts are part of the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, one of India’s climate action plans.

But Kirti Vardhan Singh also called attention to a deeper issue: climate injustice. South Asia produces only a small share of the world’s carbon pollution, yet it suffers some of the worst climate-related disasters. He called for financial and technological support from wealthier nations and reminded the world of the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" meaning countries that polluted more should help those now facing the consequences.

The Blatten disaster is a terrifying example of how climate change isn’t just about rising sea levels, it’s also about collapsing mountains, flash floods, and entire communities being wiped off the map. As global warming melts the glaciers and thaws the permafrost (frozen ground that helps keep mountains stable), landslides and collapses are becoming more frequent and more dangerous. “We are seeing many such events in recent years,” said Huss. “Warming is causing permafrost to melt, and that permafrost is what holds these mountains together.”

Today, Blatten lies under rubble. The River Lonza, now blocked by debris, threatens to flood, delaying rescue and clean-up efforts. But while one village vanished, many more remain at risk, not just in the Alps, but across the world’s mountain regions.

At the Dushanbe conference, 2025 was declared the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, and the coming decade was named the Decade for Cryospheric Sciences. But symbolic gestures are not enough. What the world needs now is real action, stronger policies, international cooperation, and resources for vulnerable countries. The collapse of Blatten was not just a tragedy. It was a warning. A message from the mountains that the climate crisis is already here.  The mountains are speaking. Blatten was the echo. Will the world finally listen?.