Time to diffuse the “ticking time bombs” of the Himalaya

During the past decade, a plethora of research articles have considerably advanced our understanding of the genesis, evolution, and hazard potential of the Himalayan glacial lakes. However, given the rapidly changing regional climate and land-use practices that exacerbate the risks, a research and policy shift towards adaptive management of glacial lakes, ranging from regulated siphoning to multistakeholder participation, is urgently required. In this perspective piece, we propose a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) framework, to highlight the key focus areas for future glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) research and policymaking. The suggested approach is of proactive nature in influencing researchers and policymakers, and aims at integrating local socioeconomic and cultural contexts, while also assessing the hazard perception of communities. This also means that while the focus of this article is the Himalayan region, the ideas and the SWOT framework proposed here can easily be adapted for any other geographical region globally. • We identify a significant research gap in studying GLOF mitigation measures. • The research gap even extends to implementing any existing mitigation measure at a wider scale. • We propose a SWOT analytical framework to shift the research and policy focus on mitigating the GLOF risks. • We also discuss the ways to measure the efficacy of mitigation approaches. • The proposed SWOT framework can easily be adapted for any other geographical region globally.