The horrific glacier collapse and flash flood in Nepal shocked the world. Millions of tons of rock, ice, mud, and water thundered down a Himalayan valley, wiping out roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, and entire communities. Hundreds are dead or missing. The destruction is almost beyond comprehension.

Before rescue operations were fully underway, however, major news organizations rushed to declare climate change the culprit.

The New York Times was among the first to blame climate change; others included the Associated Press and NPR. While acknowledging that scientists were still investigating the exact cause of the catastrophe, the Times nevertheless framed the event as another consequence of global warming, aka climate change. That conclusion is premature and false.

Good journalism follows the evidence. This time, the evidence had barely begun to arrive before the conclusions were determined.

Initial scientific investigations indicate that the disaster began when an enormous section of bedrock beneath a glacier collapsed, destabilizing the overlying ice and triggering a massive rock-ice avalanche. The resulting torrent of debris, water, and pulverized rock surged through the valley below. That description points first to geology.

The Himalayas are among the youngest and most tectonically active mountain ranges on Earth. Landslides, rockfalls, avalanches, and glacier collapses have occurred there throughout recorded history, long before industrialization and long before anyone........

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