WWF

Cimate Change, by far, is the biggest threat human-kind has ever faced since its emergence as the dominant species on the earth. Ironically, a preponderance of scientific opinion suggests that this threat is, largely, human-induced. The rate-of-change of global temperature during pre-industrial era was minimal and rather slow, allowing all life-forms on the earth to adapt through evolutionary process. On the contrary, the post-industrial saw a marked acceleration in temperature increase.

The Global average temperature, for example, rose by 0.74 degree Celsius in just 100 years as compared to what it used to be in the pre-industrial state. Worse- most scientific projections suggest that global temperatures could rise between 1.1 degrees to 6.4 degrees Celsius above 1990 levels by the end of this century depending on how much greenhouse gases we emit. This could bring catastrophe of a scale unseen in human history. The mitigation of greenhouse gas emission, therefore, has slowly but steadily taken center-stage in the global political, social and scientific discourse. Yet, even an optimistic would admit that the vision to achieve optimum level of mitigation remains a long-shot. All forms of lives on earth, therefore, will have to learn to cope with this painful rea
lity, unfortunately, for a long period of time. Needless to say, adaptation would remain the only realistic option available to a large part of the humanity and ecosystems.

The Himalayas have already seen impacts of Climate Change going by both anecdotal and scientific evidence. It has aggravated glacier melt and retreat, landslides, Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) and flash floods, events threatening the already fragile mountain ecosystems and livelihoods. Nepal which is home to most of the highest Himalayan Peaks and, indeed, largest portion of the Himalayan land-mass, stands as one of the most vulnerable countries in South Asia. Much of the Himalayan region has been facing negative impacts of Climate Change for a while now. Rising temperatures have been causing increase in rainfall intensity. Erratic weather conditions have led to greater occurrence of landslides and flash floods in many areas. Other areas complain of reduced water availability for agriculture, leading to drop in the yield of staple crops. Animals like wild boars have started being seen in the higher elevation posing threat to the age-old natural ecosystems.

Some butterflyies species are feared lost. Mosquitoes are extending their habitat northwards bringing hitherto unheard of diseases to the mountainous regions. Scenarios for Nepal project average mean temperature increase of 1.2°C to 3°C by 2050 and 2100 (OECD 2003). Besides impacting Bio-diversity negatively, Climate Change is likely to hit the poor people of Nepal the hardest over dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources, and low capacity to cope with climate extremes.


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