Dynamics of the Himalayan Climate: A Study of the Kaligandaki Basin, Nepal

Studies on climate change in the last two decades are growing rapidly that might have shadowed some of the other fields of studies. The changes have spatial characteristics and studies are yet to cover many isolated areas of the world. Existing literature showed abrupt change in the Himalaya climate. However, such generalisations are not appropriate for the Himalaya because of the complex topography of the region that has caused several microclimates in the region. Understanding climate dynamism in microclimatic regions is an important component of climate change research, particularly to comprehend impacts of climate change on the social-ecological systems of the Himalaya and to assess adaptive capacity of the communities. This paper examines climate dynamics in the Himalaya in reference to the meteorological records of four decades (1971-2010) at three stations of the Kaligandaki Basin. The findings suggest that the climates of the basin are changed, with variable rates across the stations located at different ecological zones. The extreme maximum and maximum temperatures of Lumle and Rampur stations, minimum temperature of Jomsom and Rampur stations, and extreme minimum temperatures of all of the studied meteorological stations increased significantly. Contrary to the increase in the temperatures, precipitation data revealed trend-less but inter-annual variability. Annual numbers of wet-days weredecreased at Rampur and Lumle stations while rainy days were increased at Jomsom. In addition, extreme rainfall events were increased in general in the basin.