Kathmandu, April 20
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development has expressed deep concern about the deteriorating air quality in Nepal and neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Myanmar, and parts of India.
ICIMOD said recent data reveals hazardous levels of particulate matter, which poses severe risk to human health. ICIMOD is an intergovernmental knowledge and learning centre that develops and shares research, information, and innovations to empower people in the eight regional member countries of the Hindukush-Himalayan region – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.
In Kathmandu, PM2.5 level has recently exceeded 205 µg/m3 and PM10 level has reached a staggering 430 µg/ m3, making the city one of the post polluted in the world. These alarming data highlight the urgent need for action to address this critical issue, ICIMOD said in a report. Air pollution poses severe threats to human health – contributing to neonatal morbidity, stunting and learning delays in children, and with prolonged exposure leading to respiratory illnesses, heart diseases, and other health complications, especially for vulnerable populations.
"Worldwide, air pollution is responsible for more deaths annually than COV- ID-19," says Dr Bhupesh Adhikary, senior air quality specialist at ICIMOD. "Despite this catastrophic death toll, we aren't tackling this invisible killer with anything like the same energy. It's time we put efforts to improve air quality on a war footing. The good news is that we know what is causing air pollution in our region, and how to make rapid progress to reduce our exposure to pollutants.
We urge governments, donors, and NGOs to work with us to build a coalition to really drive action on clean air." The spike in air pollution in the region is due to increase in forest fires, which are increasing in number and severity due to climate change, and residential biomass burning. As well as the impacts on human health. Pollutants cause extensive damage to the region's rich biodiversity and accelerate climate impacts.
ICIMOD also said that rising temperatures are causing glaciers in the region to melt at an alarming rate. If global warming exceeds 2°C, it will result in loss 50 per cent of the glaciers in the region, leading to changes in river flows which can have serious consequences for freshwater biodiversity, agriculture, drinking water, and other human needs. Black carbon or soot emitted from forest fires and burning crop residues after harvest can accelerate the melting of high mountain glaciers, further contributing to their decline.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 21, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
