What are the likely climate change impacts and who are the most vulnerable?
Nepal is already a country vulnerable to natural disasters, particularly floods and landslides. Much of the population is reliant on rain fed agriculture that is vulnerable to localised drought and more variable precipitation in terms of form (rain, snow and hail), timing and intensity. With increased intensity of summer monsoon rain events the risk of flash flooding, erosion and landslides will beincreased. With warmer winters, particularly at higher altitudes, less precipitation will fall as snow, further accelerating glacial retreat but also reducing soil moisture and accelerating erosion and therefore impacting on winter crops. However due to Nepal’s diverse topography and range of ecological zones, the overall impact of climate change on agriculture and ecosystems is likely to be highly variable depending on location, making it difficult to detect patterns and plan national responses. With increasing temperatures there is increased risk of disease particularly vector-borne disease
