Image via X
By Global News Service
More than 200 people have been killed or are missing in the floods and landslides caused by unprecedented rains lashing Nepal since September 27. Thousands have been displaced in different parts of the mountainous country.
The capital city of Kathmandu has been one of the most affected regions in the country, with a large number of neighborhoods flooded or covered with mud due to rainwater, which has also caused the water levels in the Bagmati River to rise. The flood and landslides have destroyed numerous homes, bridges, roads, and vehicles, leaving a large number of people stranded.
Many flooded areas are home to poor and working-class people. Their houses have been inundated with water and mud, which may take longer to clear, raising the risk of an epidemic outbreak after the water recedes.
Heavy rains during the monsoon season in South Asia are normal. However, in the last few years, local meteorological officials have claimed that the severity of rains has increased and the monsoon has been significantly prolonged. The usual duration of the monsoon has changed. Its withdrawal now stretches until October, which is quite unusual, resulting in larger repercussions for the region’s agriculture.
Mounting evidence suggests that Nepal has emerged as one of the most vulnerable countries in the context of climate change. The rise in the country’s average temperature is much higher than the global average (0.056 degrees Celsius against the global average of 0.03 degrees Celsius). The rise in temperature has caused the melting of several glaciers in the country, again endangering the local climate and the livelihoods of millions of people.
from the Peoples Dispatch / Globetrotter News Service
Comments