As a “starting zone” and “amplifier” of global climate change, the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is very responsive to climate change. The global temperature rise has led directly to an acceleration of glacial melting in the plateau and various glacier avalanche disasters have frequently occurred. The landslide caused by glacier avalanches will damage the surrounding environment, causing secondary disasters and a disaster chain effect. Take the disaster chain of the Yarlung Zangbo River at Milin County in Tibet on 17 and 29 October 2018 as an example; a formation mechanical model was proposed. The evolution mechanism for the chain of events is as follows: glacial melt → loose moraine deposit → migration along the steep erosion groove resulting in glacier clastic deposition then debris flow → formation of the dam plug to block the river → the dammed lake. This sequence of events is of great significance for understanding the developmental trends for future avalanches, landslides, and river blocking dam disasters, and for disaster prevention planning and mitigation in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.

A wavelet transform technique was used to analyze the precipitation data for nearly 60 years (1954–2012) in Yunnan Province of China. The wavelet coefficients and the variance yield of wavelet were calculated. The results showed that, in nearly 60 years, the spring precipitation increased slightly; however, the linear trend of other seasonal and annual precipitations showed a reducing trend. Seasonal and annual precipitation had the characteristics of multiple time scales. Different time scales showed the different cyclic alternating patterns. Overall, in the next period of time, different seasons and the annual precipitation will be in the periods of precipitation-reduced oscillation; high drought disaster risks may occur in Yunnan province. Particularly, by analyzing large area of severe drought of Yunnan province in 2009–2012, the predicted results of wavelet were verified. The results may provide a scientific basis for guiding agricultural production and the drought prevention work for Yunnan Province and other places of China.