{"id":35658,"date":"2026-02-12T21:10:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=35658"},"modified":"2026-02-12T21:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:25:48","slug":"nepals-kathmandu-valley-sees-short-lived-dip-in-winter-pollution-experts-warn-of-rebound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/nepals-kathmandu-valley-sees-short-lived-dip-in-winter-pollution-experts-warn-of-rebound\/","title":{"rendered":"Nepal\u2019s Kathmandu Valley sees short-lived dip in winter pollution, experts warn of rebound"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
PM2.5 trends in December \u2013 February: 2024-25 vs. 2025-26 I Courtesy: Suresh Pokhrel, ICIMOD\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kathmandu, Feb 12 <\/strong> \u2013 Air quality in Nepal\u2019s Kathmandu Valley showed a brief improvement in December but quickly deteriorated again in January, according to monitoring data from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICIMOD\u2019s Khumaltar station recorded an average of 45 micrograms per cubic metre (\u00b5g\/m\u00b3) of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in December 2025, compared with levels nearly 1.5 times higher a year earlier. Between December 2025 and February 2026, mean PM2.5 levels stood at around 50 \u00b5g\/m\u00b3, still above the World Health Organization\u2019s \u201cunhealthy\u201d threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollution rebounded in January, with concentrations rising to a maximum of 85 \u00b5g\/m\u00b3, slightly higher than the same period in 2025. \u201cDecember 2025 was noticeably cleaner than December 2024. But since January, pollution has started rising again,\u201d said ICIMOD air pollution analyst Suresh Pokhrel. \u201cThis pattern shows we are not dealing with any lasting change, but only a brief relief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts said winter weather conditions, including colder air and slower circulation, worsen exposure to pollution. But ICIMOD\u2019s energy specialist Abhishek Upadhyay noted emissions were the main driver. \u201cDecember\u2019s cleaner air was most likely linked to reduced emissions rather than meteorology,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rebound in January and February shows how quickly pollution returns when emissions are high.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashish Tiwari, ICIMOD\u2019s lead on air quality, warned that temporary dips should not be mistaken for progress. \u201cWithout targeted and sustained emission cuts, severe pollution events will keep coming back every year,\u201d he said. \u201cTemporary dips are not progress, sustained changes are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nepal\u2019s government has launched the National Air Quality Management Plan (NAQMAP) to identify pollution sources, set investment priorities, and strengthen monitoring. \u201cNAQMAP is an important step,\u201d Tiwari added. \u201cBut to protect people\u2019s health, it must translate into real action on the ground, cleaner transport, cleaner energy, and stronger enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts say the valley is likely to face another pollution spike in the pre-monsoon season unless nationwide efforts to reduce emissions accelerate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu, Feb 12 \u2013 Air quality in Nepal\u2019s Kathmandu Valley showed a brief improvement in December but quickly deteriorated again in January, according to monitoring data from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph.webp",2000,1134,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-200x200.webp",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-675x383.webp",675,383,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-768x435.webp",750,425,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-1100x624.webp",750,425,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-1536x871.webp",1536,871,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph.webp",2000,1134,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-1200x800.webp",1200,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-870x570.webp",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-600x900.webp",600,900,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-600x600.webp",600,600,true],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-760x490.webp",760,490,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-550x360.webp",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-95x65.webp",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-640x853.webp",640,853,true],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-96x96.webp",96,96,true],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/airpollutin-graph-150x85.webp",150,85,true]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"Environment<\/a>","tag_info":"Environment","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35660,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35658\/revisions\/35660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}