Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in the Nepalese Himalayas

Abstract

The ongoing climatic changes and changes those are projected to occur in the near future are likely to have impacts on different sectors of Nepal. Impacts on water resources are likely to be more severe. Water resource sector ranks significantly higher than other sector because this sector is directly related to rising temperatures resulting in change in cryosphere; faster glacier melts and formation and expansion of glacial lakes and increased risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) events. The longest instrumental records of maximum temperature of Kathmandu showed that air temperature was increasing rapidly in the recent past. The records from Kathmandu showed an increase in air temperature of 0.27 ^oC between 1897 and 1977 and of nearly 1 ^oC between 1975 and 1994. Such increase in air temperature is more rapid in the higher Himalayan regions inducing more melting of snow and glacier ice. The retreat rate of terminus of Glacier AX010 in the Shorong Himal was 2.7 m a^-1 from 1978 to 1989 and 16.7 m a^-1 from 1989 to 2004. The ongoing rapid retreat of glaciers is leading to formation of new glacial lakes and expansion of existing glacial lakes with increasing risk of GLOF events. The area of Tsho Rolpa Glacial Lake in Dolakha district was expanded to 1.452 km2 in August 2009 from 0.23 km2 in 1959. The expanding glacial lake is holding huge amount of water within the moraine dam among which considerable amount of water may be released suddenly if the dam breaks causing flood and debris flow with high chances of huge loss of life, infrastructure and biodiversity of the region and downstream. Therefore, more studies on glaciers and glacial lakes are very essential toge