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Name: Zach Occupation: Student Seen: NW 13th [...]
Rice Paddy Hill, Nepal
by: Blaine Skrainka
(Prakash Mathema/Agence France-Presse/Getty Image)
A Nepalese farmer treks through a rice paddy field outside of Katmandu.
The economy of Nepal is heavily reliant on agriculture, which accounts for about one-third of GDP. Nearly half the population is unemployed.
Political turmoil and lack of infrastructure investment have left the country highly underdeveloped and vulnerable to natural disasters. Global warming is already impacting the nation. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development tells us that Nepal is warming at an average of 0.6 degree centigrade per decade higher than the global average.
According to the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies:
“The main immediate risks resulting from climate change are flashfloods, glacier lakes outbursts, changes in crop yields and type due to changing temperatures, and in the long-term, we can expect significant changes in downstream water flows.”
Despite their own low levels of per-capita carbon emissions, Nepal faces the challenges of climate change put upon them by polluting industrial nations.
