In the News
April 3, 2025
Experts say that widespread wildfires, fuelled by an exceptionally dry winter and stagnant atmospheric conditions, have caused the thick and throat-burning smog to cover the Kathmandu valley.
Levels of PM2.5 pollutants — cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs — registered above 178 micrograms per cubic metre on Thursday, according to Swiss monitoring firm IQAir.
A reading above 15 in a 24-hour period is considered unhealthy by the World Health Organization (WHO), and IQAir ranked Kathmandu the world’s most polluted city.
The Himalayan nation sees a spate of wildfires annually, usually beginning in March, but their number and intensity have worsened in recent years, with climate change leading to drier winters.
“The prevailing dry conditions have significantly increased the frequency of forest fires across the country, further worsening air pollution,” Khushboo Sharma, an air pollution analyst at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development(ICIMOD) told AFP.
The Air Quality Life Index, issued by the University of Chicago, estimated that in 2024 air pollution stripped 3.4 years off the life of an average Nepal resident.