How is climate change affecting plants in Nepal?

According to the French and the Germans, 20% of plants in Germany are threatened by global warming because of species distribution is changed by changes in climate and temperature.

Nepali Flora

“Many plant species could lose their niches in habitats such as mountains or moors,“ Sven Pompe from UFZ explains. Migrating species from southern Europe could not compensate for these losses in the models. The marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), for example, is one of the losers to climate change. The changes in the environmental conditions in the scenarios will result in this species disappearing locally from the low-lying areas of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. In contrast, the common walnut (Juglans regia), originally introduced north of the Alps by the Romans, would find more areas with suitable conditions and could extend into eastern Germany.

Nepal too has various degrees of changes in temperature and altitude from North to South. How is climate change affecting the flora of Nepal? Hope it is not too late when we find out the answer.

Cataracts and Nepal

cataract

While the rest of the world is combating novel infectious agents such as HIV, Nepal unfortunately is still battling with ancient diseases such as cholera. In addition, due to lack of biomedical research many diseases and their causative agents are not being diagnosed. A recent study conducted in Nepal has confirmed that use of solid fuel (daura) in inadequately ventilated kitchens increases the risk of cataract. Furthermore, since women do most of the cooking in Nepal, women but not men may be at risk in acquiring cataract and thus may become blind at a young age.

This may have serious sociological implications, especially in a country like Nepal. Environment and health are probably the two hottest topics today. Life style in rural Nepal and its impact in the environment as well as in the health of Nepali women thus needs to be seriously considered when thinking about a new Nepal. Innovations to ameliorate the tough life style in Nepal will probably be really appreciated.