"People have done a lot of inventory studies [of the lakes] ... but our study has flipped that around."What's downstream matters just as much, if not more. I think it's an important reframing in the way we think about it."Lakes formed by melting glaciers have natural dams of loose rocks and ice that can fail suddenly and unpredictably.The floods that follow come thick and fast, in many cases being powerful enough to destroy vital infrastructure.Dam failures are complex, but are often triggered when a lump of rock or ice falls into the lake from the surrounding mountains.That causes a wave to travel across the lake like a tsunami, destabilising the dam as it reaches it.Other factors include a gradual build-up of meltwater, increasing pressure against the dam and melting any ice cores holding it together.

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