Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau are likely to become more unstable, which may lead to more collapses and collateral disasters similar to last week’s deadly flash flood at the Tibet-Nepal border, a senior Chinese climate official has warned.

The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal, leaving a trail of destruction and killing hundreds.

“Over the past 60 years, the glacier area on the Tibetan Plateau has shrunk by around 24 per cent, with around 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely,” said Gao Rong, deputy director of China’s National Climate Centre, an official body of the Chinese government.

“Looking ahead, the structural stability of glaciers across the Tibetan Plateau will decline further. Glacial disasters are likely to become more frequent and could amplify in destruction and reach through cascading effects,” Gao was quoted as saying by the...