DOMINANT ANGLE
Stockholm is scrutinizing the mechanics of the disaster more than its human toll: the Swedish press is devoting most of its coverage to the climate attribution study by the World Weather Attribution, treating the revision of the number of missing people in Nepal as a figure to be updated rather than a story to be told.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The World Weather Attribution attributes the collapse to a combination of factors: permafrost thaw, the 2015 earthquake, and a regional temperature increase of around 2°C
- 02
The glacier near the collapsed area has retreated more than 300 meters between 2010 and 2026, in a region where glaciers have lost about half a meter of thickness per year since 2000
- 03
The number of missing people was revised from 5,179 to 6,150 on Wednesday; 1,403 bodies have been found, including 105 identified, according to Nepalese spokesperson Shanti Mahat
ANALYSIS
Stockholm, September 17, 2026. On Thursday, several Swedish newspapers highlighted the publication of the World Weather Attribution (WWA) on the causes of the "lervåg" — the mudslide — that hit Nepal at the end of August. Svenska Dagbladet, Aftonbladet, and Expressen reproduced, almost word for word, the analysis of the researchers: the catastrophe did not result from a single meteorological event, but from a combination of factors. The 2015 earthquake would have weakened the rock face, without its exact role being able to be quantified, according to glaciologist Walter Immerzeel, cited in the three publications: "We cannot precisely evaluate the role played by the earthquake, but it may have weakened the rock mass."
The articles detail the geophysical mechanism retained by the scientists: the thawing of permafrost in a particularly sensitive transition zone to warming, the widening of rock fissures, increased water infiltration, and the multiplication of freeze-thaw cycles. The neighboring glacier of the collapsed area has retreated by more than 300 meters between 2010 and 2026, while the glaciers in the region have lost approximately half a meter of thickness per year since 2000. Local annual temperatures would have risen by about two degrees, a rate considered significantly higher than the average global warming.
Sveriges Radio puts this scientific finding into the human toll: more than 5,000 people were still missing at the time of publication, a figure attributed to both warming and a particularly hot summer in the region that accelerated glacial melting. Aftonbladet, in a separate article published on Wednesday, reports the official Nepalese revision: the number of missing people has risen from 5,179 to 6,150 after verification of the data transmitted by the district offices, according to Shanti Mahat, spokesperson for the relief authority cited by the media. 1,403 bodies have been found, of which only 105 have been identified.
None of the Swedish articles mention the research being conducted for the missing foreign nationals, nor the Nepalese announcement to bring the climate issue before the United Nations General Assembly.
SOURCES (4)
- Svenska DagbladetMEDIUM
- ExpressenMEDIUM
- Sveriges RadioMEDIUM
- AftonbladetMEDIUM
