Water as “Time-Substance” : The Hydrosocialities of Climate Change in Nepal

This article develops a novel theoretical framework to explain how water's situatedness relates to its political agency. Recent posthuman scholarship emphasizes these qualities but, surprisingly, no sustained analysis has been undertaken of this interrelation. Here we do so by theorizing water as a “time-substance” to reposition human hydrological struggles (including those exacerbated by climate change) around the topologies and temporalities rather than the spatialities of water. This innovative approach opens up new areas of geographical enquiry based on hydrosocial forms, hydrosocial transformations, and hydrosocial information (collectively referred to here as hydrosocialities). We contend that hydrosocialities enable the tracing of human–water relations that transcend times and scales and the matricial categories of subject and object to overcome the situated–agential binary of water. Drawing on two years of fieldwork in Mustang, Nepal, this conceptual framework is deployed to examine hydrosocialities in two remote mountain communities. We show hydrosocialities that comprise diverse water knowledge practices constituted from multiple points of proximity between the social and the hydrological in space and time. In turn, this conceptual framework underscores the importance of boundary objects in mediating water's situated–agential qualities. The article concludes that consequently boundary objects can play a crucial role in producing new practical hydrosocial politics of climate change mitigation and adaptation.</p

Perception and Understanding of Climate Change and Its Impact in Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalaya, Nepal

Climate change is a global issue. Its impacts are recognized at different scales ranging from global to regional to local. Climate change particularly changes in temperature and precipitation has been observed differently in different ecological regions in Nepal Himalaya. The study area comprises five villages of three ecological regions in the Gandaki River Basin (GRB) of Nepal. Based on the observed climate data of a 30-year period from 1990 to 2020, the changes in temperature and precipitation of each ecological region are analyzed using the Mann–Kendall trend test and Sen’s slope. The temperature trend was found to be increasing at the rate of 0.0254 °C per year (°C/a) between 1990 and 2020 in the Mountain region, by 0.0921 °C/a in the Hill region and 0.0042 °C/a in the Tarai region. The precipitation trend in the Mountain region is decreasing by −13.126 mm per year (mm/a), by −9.3998 mm/a in the Hill region and by −5.0247 mm/a in the Tarai region. Household questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were carried out to assess the perception of climate change and its impact. The farmers of the three ecological regions have perceived increasing temperature trends, but perceived variability in precipitation trends. Both snowfall and rainfall have varied. Snowfall has drastically decreased. Drought has increased. Extreme disaster events and impacts from such climate-induced events are experienced by 67.9% of respondents. A major impact of climate change is reported on cultivated crops with damage caused by increased insect and rodent pests. The impact of climate change is varied by ecological region. The comparative study of observed data and household data shows the need for a micro-level study so that a real situation can be captured and would be very much useful for policy formulation to combat climate change at a local scale

Perception and Understanding of Climate Change and Its Impact in Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalaya, Nepal

Climate change is a global issue. Its impacts are recognized at different scales ranging from global to regional to local. Climate change particularly changes in temperature and precipitation has been observed differently in different ecological regions in Nepal Himalaya. The study area comprises five villages of three ecological regions in the Gandaki River Basin (GRB) of Nepal. Based on the observed climate data of a 30-year period from 1990 to 2020, the changes in temperature and precipitation of each ecological region are analyzed using the Mann&ndash;Kendall trend test and Sen&rsquo;s slope. The temperature trend was found to be increasing at the rate of 0.0254 &deg;C per year (&deg;C/a) between 1990 and 2020 in the Mountain region, by 0.0921 &deg;C/a in the Hill region and 0.0042 &deg;C/a in the Tarai region. The precipitation trend in the Mountain region is decreasing by &minus;13.126 mm per year (mm/a), by &minus;9.3998 mm/a in the Hill region and by &minus;5.0247 mm/a in the Tarai region. Household questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were carried out to assess the perception of climate change and its impact. The farmers of the three ecological regions have perceived increasing temperature trends, but perceived variability in precipitation trends. Both snowfall and rainfall have varied. Snowfall has drastically decreased. Drought has increased. Extreme disaster events and impacts from such climate-induced events are experienced by 67.9% of respondents. A major impact of climate change is reported on cultivated crops with damage caused by increased insect and rodent pests. The impact of climate change is varied by ecological region. The comparative study of observed data and household data shows the need for a micro-level study so that a real situation can be captured and would be very much useful for policy formulation to combat climate change at a local scale

From present to future development pathways in fragile mountain landscapes

Mountains are dynamic landscapes that are home to rich natural and human heritage. However, climatic variability, globalisation and increasing ecomomic integration are making these landscapes more fragile with implications for present and future development. Using a pathways lens, we examine development trajectories in mountains and relate these to environmental and social-economic change currently taking place. We analyse and compare pathways in three case studies in Peru (Andes); Nepal (Himalayas); and Kyrgyzstan (Tien Shan). The paper highlights that development pathways in fragile mountain regions may be shifting in new directions, but because they emerge out of complex socio-environmental and historical contexts, there are also social risks associated with the articulation of future pathways, particularly in terms of social equity and sustainability. Building on different pathway approaches with their various strengths and weaknesses, this study examines the role of human agency and power, the role of historical and present context and feedbacks between social and ecological features in shaping future development pathways of mountain landscapes