ADB climate change projections go online

KATHMANDU, AUG 27 -

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has set up a new database that would help Nepal better prepare for various climate change impacts.

Under a project called ‘Strengthening Capacity for Managing Climate Change and the Environment’, ADB has coordinated a more specific set of climate change projections for areas as small as 12 sq km. Previous climate change data provided projections for wide swathes of up to 100 sq km. The new data are more targeted, allowing for more effective climate response plans to be drawn up.

The data show that between 2030 and 2060, the annual mean maximum temperature will increase in most areas of Nepal. While it will rise only slightly in the central part of the country, it will go up by about 3 degrees Celsius in the north-western high mountain region. Meanwhile, average annual rainfall will increase slightly across the whole country, but increase most in the western and northern high mountain regions. “The potential applications of this database are manifold: If a farmer has a better idea of how rain patterns are going to change, he can make better decisions about the crops he will plant, while the engineer can make a more informed decision about how to build roads that will last, and the government official can better direct public spending,” said Cindy Malvicini, senior water resources specialist at ADB.  

Information on climate change impacts across the country has, until now, been very general. This was not very useful given that Nepal’s topography ranges from arctic regions to tropical plains all within a 200 km span from north to south.

Source: The Kathmandu Post