Every year, in March on average, Nepal experiences a wave of wildfires; however, in recent years, both the quantity and severity of these flames have increased due to drier winters brought on by climate change. In Lalitpur, on the southern edge of the Kathmandu valley, firefighters battled a forest fire all night long.
Government data shows that there have been more than 4,500 wildfires registered nationwide so far this year, about twice as many as the previous year, but fewer than the worst fire season on record in 2021.
Heatwaves are becoming longer, more frequent, and more intense due to climate change, according to a large body of evidence.
Since last month, sizable portions of South and Southeast Asia have been engulfed in a heatwave, which is partly due to the El Nino phenomena and the unusually warm weather this year.
In the southern region and in the Buddhist pilgrimage city of Lumbini, temperatures have reached above 40 degrees Celsius, and the coming days are expected to be even hotter.
For two days on Thursday, almost a hundred schools in the southern city of Butwal were closed due to concerns about the heatwave’s potential to affect pupils’ health.
