Country

Kyrgyzstan

Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Kyrgyzstan.

Vulnerability

The geography and topography of the Kyrgyz Republic makes it one of the most hazard-prone countries in Central Asia. Available data suggest that natural hazards incur major economic losses on these countries, with costs between 0.5 and 1.3% of annual gross domestic product. Rising temperatures, changing hydrology conditions, and frequency of extreme weather events associated with climate change will exacerbate the Kyrgyz Republic’s vulnerability and reduce ability to manage extreme events unless the appropriate adaptation measures are put in place. Drought is a common occurrence in the country, as are land and mudslides, avalanches, squalls, downpours, icing, frosts, breakthrough of glacial lakes, floods, rise of sub-soil waters, epidemics, pests, crop diseases, and river erosion, and earthquakes, of which the country experiences 3,000 to 5,000 every year. 

This section provides a summary of key natural hazards and their associated socioeconomic impacts in a given country. And it allows quick evaluation of most vulnerable areas through the spatial comparison of natural hazard data with development data, thereby identifying exposed livelihoods and natural systems.

 

Natural Hazard Statistics

The charts provide overview of the most frequent natural disaster in a given country and understand the impacts of those disasters on human populations.

Natural Hazard / Development Nexus

This tool allows the overlay of different natural hazard maps with social economic datasets by sliding the bar horizontally, which provides a broad sense of vulnerable areas.

 
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Metadata

Metadata

Key Vulnerabilities

  • Nearly all of Kyrgyz Republic is vulnerable to floods and mudflow hazards, which occur frequently across the country. As glaciers continue to melt due to rising temperatures, more intense flooding events in the wintertime (and reduced water flow in the summer) are expected. The Jalal‐Abad, Osh, Batken, Chui, Issyk‐Kul, and Talas regions face the highest risk of floods and mudflows.
  • Kyrgyz Republic has 5,000 potentially active landslide sites, the majority of which are found in the south. Intense rainstorms trigger landslides within minutes, as do snowmelts. More than 10,000 homes are located in landslide prone areas; of all natural hazards, landslides cause the most deaths.

More information on natural hazards can be found at ThinkHazard.

 

  • Available data suggests that natural hazards constitute a major part of all economic losses in these countries, with costs between 0.5 and 1.3% of annual gross domestic product. Rising temperatures, changing hydrology conditions and frequency of extreme weather events associated with climate change will exacerbate the Kyrgyz Republic’s vulnerability and reduce ability to manage these events unless the appropriate adaptation measures and put in place.