Various scientific researches and studies have pointed out erratic weather patterns as effects of climate change, which could have adverse impacts on people´s health and livelihood. However, there are some skeptics who believe climate change is just a myth. In what could probably help convince naysayers that climate change is a real threat to the planet, a study conducted in three villages of Solukhumbu district which are believed to be at high risk of climate-induced disasters, has revealed that the locals are actually experiencing erratic weather patterns over the past decades.
According to a preliminary report of the study, conducted as part of preparing Local Adaptation Plan of Action (LAPA) for the whole Khumbu region, the locals of Namche, Khumjung and Chaurikharka have experienced that rainy season is getting longer, winter is starting earlier and summer is getting hotter. Similarly, they have experienced that frost is starting earlier but there is no change in its duration and snowfall is beginning late but getting longer with cloudy season, too, getting longer than in the past.
"In an attempt to understand the local people´s experience of climate variability in the Khumbu region, we compared their past experiences with present experiences by using a scientific tool known as seasonal calendar analysis," said Shailendra Thakali, who led the team that conducted the study in last September under the USAID-funded High Mountain Adaptation Partnership (HIMAP) project. "The results were as expected. The locals are experiencing changes in weather patterns, which scientists have described as effects of changing climate."
Thakali said they also used another scientific tool known as timeline analysis to understand the occurrence and frequency of climate-induced disasters and the results were as they had expected. The locals have faced altogether 10 major water-induced disasters, including two Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), in the Khumbu region over the past decades. Incidents of landslide, windstorm, avalanches, forest fires as well as previously unknown pests and disasters are on the rise, the locals told the study team.
"The purpose of our study was to find out whether what various scientific researches have claimed about climate change can be correlated with experiences of the people especially living in the high mountains," said Thakali. "And, our study established correlation between research reports and local experiences."
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