Ujjwol Lamichhane

Dig Tsho Glacier Lake (4,365m) burst on August 4, 1985 spilling an estimated 200 to 350 million cubic feet of icy water with a flood wave 35 to 50 feet in height. It partially destroyed a hydro-power project, 14 bridges and various trails and patches of cultivated land roughly 55 miles below and likely to burst again if climate change glacial retreat continues.

Nepal is a small landlocked country in South Asia. The nation of the Mount Everest and the great Himalayas is now facing several consequences of climate change.

“No country on earth has some much natural diversity and no where apart from the poles is climate change happening so fast. The glaciers are retreating, the monsoon rains are becoming more intense and farming is getting harder than ever.”

Although the share of Nepal in the global emission of greenhouse gases is negligible, many bitter consequences having started ruling Nepal. In the recent years, Nepal is witnessing continuous disturbances in its ecology due to climate change resulting floods, severe landslides, soil erosion and effects of the climate change.

Climate Change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. The changes are attributed directly or indirectly to human activity which alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability.

This bridge, at Phunki Tengi in Sagarmatha National Park, was destroyed in a flood in the summer of 2007.

Climate change is also responsible for erratic weather patterns such as the thick haze that covers many parts of the southern plains of the country during winter seasons which destroys crops and livelihoods. The intensified monsoon is also creating hundreds of different environmental refugees. The unpredicted rainfall is making farming difficult. Thousand hectors of agricultural lands have turned into sand bank. Nepal is on the front line of climate change and variations which for some people the changes are catastrophic.

The rain is now very different and are increasingly unpredictable.It’s more concentrated and intense. It means that crop yields are going down. Many cultivable land are being progressively washed by big and small rives like Narayani river,Koshi river, Tirshuli river and others. Observations records that some of the fastest long-term increases in temperatures and rainfall is seen in Nepal. At least 44 of Nepal’s and neighbouring Bhutan’s Himalayan lakes, which collect glacier meltwater, are said by the UN to be growing so rapidly they they could burst their banks within a decade. Any climate change in Nepal is reflected throughout the region. Nearly 400 million people in northern India and Bangladesh also depend on rainfall and rivers that rise there.

Street in Gaighat. This was taken during the rainy season in Nepal. The flooding is not usually too severe in Gaighat, but it can ruin fields and destroy crops in the nearby villages.

Causes of floods in the country are often triggered by rapid melting of snow and ice in high mountain regions. The increasing melting of the Glacier Lakes in the Himalaya due to exposure to warmer temperature, is main cause of floods in the nation. Due to this, several people are killed and thousands are rendered homeless in this nation adding to the poverty of this poor nation.

Rise of temperature in the capital city of the nation, Kathmandu is also a severe consequences of the global climate change in Nepal. The mean temperature during summer and winter season raised by more than 1 and about 2 degree Celsius progressively in recent years. This is an severe consequences of the human induced climate change. Similar trends are seen in southern Terai plains. In these regions extreme temperatures including heat wave and cold stream are witnessed frequently during summer and winter season respectively. Loss of
human lives due to cold stream is always reported every year in Nepal.

A group calling themselves Climate Change Refugees gathered on 17th Avenue in Calgary, Alberta on December 8th, 2007 for the International Day of Action on Climate Change

The increasing developments that causes emission of green house gases in the developed countries is resulting is a severe environmental problems in many poorer nation like Nepal. The shift in weather conditions causes these nations to face several calamities like flood, droughts, landslides, soil erosion, shift in farming practices and productivity and many other social consequences. With further increase in global temperature its impacts on human being is increasing tremendously.So this is time that we realize the impacts of the global climate change and start action to counter attack it.

Today on the Blog Action Day ‘09 Climate Change, I am writing this blog to call to take action. It’s now time to act on Climate Change. Time is running out, and our planet can’t afford to wait.

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Tagged: blog, blog action day, climate change, flood, global warming, Nepal