Climate Change and Nepal

Nepal is a small landlocked country in South Asia. Theso rapidly they they could burst their banks within a
nation of the Mount Everest and the great Himalayasdecade. Any climate change in Nepal is reflected
is now facing several consequences of climatethroughout the region. Nearly 400 million people in
change.northern India and Bangladesh also depend on rainfall
"No country on earth has some much naturaland rivers that rise there.
diversity and no where apart from the poles isStreet in Gaighat. This was taken during the rainy
climate change happening so fast. The glaciers areseason in Nepal. The flooding is not usually too
retreating, the monsoon rains are becoming moresevere in Gaighat, but it can ruin fields and destroy
intense and farming is getting harder than ever."crops in the nearby villages. Causes of floods in the
Although the share of Nepal in the global emission ofcountry are often triggered by rapid melting of snow
greenhouse gases is negligible, many bitterand ice in high mountain regions. The increasing
consequences having started ruling Nepal. In themelting of the Glacier Lakes in the Himalaya due to
recent years, Nepal is witnessing continuousexposure to warmer temperature, is main cause of
disturbances in its ecology due to climate changefloods in the nation. Due to this, several people are
resulting floods, severe landslides, soil erosion andkilled and thousands are rendered homeless in this
effects of the climate change.nation adding to the poverty of this poor nation.
Climate Change refers to any change in climate overRise of temperature in the capital city of the nation,
time, whether due to natural variability or as a resultKathmandu is also a severe consequences of the
of human activity. The changes are attributed directlyglobal climate change in Nepal. The mean temperature
or indirectly to human activity which alters theduring summer and winter season raised by more
composition of the global atmosphere and that is inthan 1 and about 2 degree Celsius progressively in
addition to natural climate variability.recent years. This is an severe consequences of the
This bridge, at Phunki Tengi in Sagarmatha Nationalhuman induced climate change. Similar trends are seen
Park, was destroyed in a flood in the summer ofin southern Terai plains. In these regions extreme
2007. Climate change is also responsible for erratictemperatures including heat wave and cold stream
weather patterns such as the thick haze that coversare witnessed frequently during summer and winter
many parts of the southern plains of the countryseason respectively. Loss of human lives due to cold
during winter seasons which destroys crops andstream is always reported every year in Nepal.
livelihoods. The intensified monsoon is also creatingA group calling themselves Climate Change Refugees
hundreds of different environmental refugees. Thegathered on 17th Avenue in Calgary, Alberta on
unpredicted rainfall is making farming difficult.December 8th, 2007 for the International Day of
Thousand hectors of agricultural lands have turnedAction on Climate Change The increasing
into sand bank. Nepal is on the front line of climatedevelopments that causes emission of green house
change and variations which for some people thegases in the developed countries is resulting is a
changes are catastrophic.severe environmental problems in many poorer nation
The rain is now very different and are increasinglylike Nepal. The shift in weather conditions causes
unpredictable.It's more concentrated and intense. Itthese nations to face several calamities like flood,
means that crop yields are going down. Manydroughts, landslides, soil erosion, shift in farming
cultivable land are being progressively washed by bigpractices and productivity and many other social
and small rives like Narayani river,Koshi river, Tirshuliconsequences. With further increase in global
river and others. Observations records that some oftemperature its impacts on human being is increasing
the fastest long-term increases in temperatures andtremendously. So this is time that we realize the
rainfall is seen in Nepal. At least 44 of Nepal's andimpacts of the global climate change and start action
neighbouring Bhutan's Himalayan lakes, which collectto counter attack it.
glacier meltwater, are said by the UN to be growing