By Our Reporter
Nepali people experienced the second hottest year in 2023, 42 years after witnessing the hottest year in 1981.
As Nepal experienced the hottest year 42 years ago, the issue of climate change which people have been raising for the high temperature looks false in the context of Nepal.
The year 2023 was the second warmest year for Nepal, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said on Sunday.
Earlier, 1981 was the warmest year after DHM started keeping the temperature record in Nepal from 1962.
The average maximum temperature for Nepal in 2023 was 27.9 degrees Celsius, marking a slight increase of 0.6 degrees Celsius compared to the previous normal annual maximum temperature. Similarly, the average minimum temperature was at 15.6 degrees Celsius, indicating a 0.5 degrees Celsius rise from the normal annual minimum temperature, the DHM said.
According to the DHM, Okhaldhunga witnessed an increase of 1.6 degrees Celsius from 30.9 degrees Celsius on April 28, 1999 to 32.5 degrees Celsius on June 9, 2023.
Similarly, the temperature in the Birendrachowk station in Gorkha rose by 1.0 degrees Celsius, from 38.0 degrees Celsius on May 8, 2014, to 39.0 degrees Celsius on June 8, 2023. Additionally, there was a 1.0 degrees Celsius increase in temperature at the Kanyam Tea Station in Ilam, from 29.0 degrees Celsius on July 10, 1973, to 30.0 degrees Celsius on June 3, 2023.
The recent worldwide findings have also shown that global warming has exceeded by 1.5 degrees Celsius across an entire year for the first time, with January breaking new temperature records.
According to the European Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the first month of 2024 was 1.66 degrees Celsius hotter, marking the warmest January and breaking yet another heat record after the troubling extremes of 2023. And Nepal is no exception to this global temperature rise, said Ajay Dixit, an expert on issues of water, climate change and disasters.
In Nepal, a sudden increase in maximum temperature by the end of May last year led to mild to severe heatwave conditions over large parts of the country which continued till the second week of June.
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