Benisha hamal
Kathmandu,2009/8/7: As Nepal is home to the mighty Himalayas, global warming has increased the pace of snow melting, which, in turn, has made glacial lakes swell. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) had warned five years ago that 20 big glacial lakes in the country are at risk of floods from glacial lake bursts, which could trigger huge loss of life and property. Different reports suggest the frequency of such bursts has increased in the recent past. "Eight glacial lake bursts occurred in Nepal from 1977 to 2005 according to records and satellite imagery," says a climate change officer at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Nepal Program).One of the most startling results of climate change can be seen in the spectacular Tsho Rolpa glacial lake situated in the Rolwaling valley, north of the capital Kathmandu. "The lake had an area of 0.23 sq kilometers in 1950. It has since swollen to 1.7 sq kilometers," says the director general of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Madan Lal Shrestha. On September 3, 1998, the Sabai Tsho lake-burst killed two persons and washed away fields and trekking trails of Solukhumbu district, which is home to Mount Everest. Likewise, in September 1997, the Dudh Koshi burst destroyed a mini hydro plant there. On July 1991, the Chilbung Lake burst, damaging houses in Beding village in Rolwaling valley. ICIMOD (International Center for Integrated Mountain Development) and UNEP has shown that there are 26 potential dangerous glacial lakes in Nepal.
Rapid melting of snow has also led to the receding of the snowline and glacial rivers. "The Rikhasambha glacier river has receded 100 meters between 1974 and 1994. Such recession of glacial rivers is also seen elsewhere," points out Shrestha. Nepal is witnessing a disturbance in mountain climate, flash floods, cloudbursts, erratic weather patterns and so on. Every year, the number of people dying in floods and landslides increases.
