Nepal endured its worst flooding in decades during late September, torrential monsoon rains inundating entire neighborhoods in the country's capital city of Kathmandu. The deluge was another example of how our overheating planet is supercharging extreme weather events.
What's happening?
Devastating flash floods struck Nepal in late September, killing at least 244 people and causing an estimated near 13 billion Nepalese rupees ($95 million) in damage. Flood-induced landslides have contributed to more than $2 billion ($18.4 million) in damage to roads and bridges alone.
Researchers with World Weather Attribution have concluded that our warming world was a key driver of the impacts of Nepal's flooding. "To quantify the role of human-induced climate change we analyse climate models with high resolution that are in principle able to simulate the influence of the mountains on rainfall in the study region," according to the WWA analysis of the flooding event. "Overall, the available climate models indicate a 10% increase in intensity compared to a 1.3C cooler climate, and an increase in likelihood of about 70%."
WWA is made up of an international partnership that studies how climate change influences extreme weather events. The WWA analysis of Nepal's flooding included researchers from Nepal, India, Sweden, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
"Climate change is no longer a distant threat," said researcher Roshan Jha with the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, per the Citizen Tribune. "With every fraction of a degree of warming, the atmosphere can potentially hold more moisture, leading to much heavier downpours and catastrophic floods like these."
WWA also noted other drivers of the event, like rapid urbanization and deforestation in the Kathmandu Valley, which has disrupted natural water processes and increased surface runoff that can overwhelm drainage systems.
Why is flooding in Nepal important?
Nepal's event is another example of how our warming world is making many inland flooding events worse in the United States. A Climate Central study found our overheating planet is connected to three key flood drivers: more intense rainfall, less snow, and drier soils. Their study found that precipitation changes linked to climate warming account for 37% of inland flood damage in our country since 1988.
It is a worldwide issue. "The hydrological cycle is expected to intensify with global warming, which likely increases the intensity of extreme precipitation events and the risk of flooding," according to a study published in Nature. "Results show an intensification of extreme precipitation and flood events over all climate regions which increases as water availability increases from dry to wet regions. Similarly, there is an increase in the intensification of extreme precipitation and flood with the seasonal cycle of water availability."
What's being done about flooding in Nepal?
"Comprehensive spatial planning, combined with disaster risk reduction and adaptation, effective policy enforcement, and increased public awareness, are crucial to mitigate flood risks across central and eastern Nepal, including the Kathmandu Valley," were among the flood mitigation measures mentioned in the WWA report.
It is crucial to stop the build-up of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere, which is a key driver in many extreme flood events. Renewable energy sources like wind farms, community solar programs, and tapping into tidal energy can all help.
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