Climate change is a hot concern in Pakistan due to sweltering heat waves, violent storms, starvation, and displaced populations. The nation is in uncharted terrain as climatic issues complicate life and livelihood while setting records for warmth and rainfall. Despite producing less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, it is one of the most severely impacted regions and is currently experiencing a perfect storm. Extreme weather, like as the floods in Sindh and Punjab last year and the ongoing unrest in Balochistan, Sindh, and Punjab, is thus just a taste of the harsh seasons to come. Ominous findings from studies include glacier melting, landslides, frequent saturation, droughts, and extreme heat. If implemented honestly, the Ministry of Climate Change’s National Adaptation Plan released last week could be able to offer some relief from the elements. According to the text, improving all pertinent sectors’ stability, adaptability, capacity for recovery, and sustainability is necessary for effective disaster risk management. This requires carefully identifying weaknesses… Therefore, it is crucial to undertake sectoral adaptation measures to reduce these risks while bolstering the overall resilience of the system and service delivery. It also examines the more complex issues, such as the damage to reproductive health and the threat of disease and “heat stress” to health. It is crucial to emphasise that not everyone is affected negatively by climate change; in particular, women, the poor, and people without land are affected. Because of the disparity between their socioeconomic condition and that of men, women are disproportionately vulnerable.
Our urgent need is a shift in policy from impact and causation to adaptability and caution. The rates of death and morbidity have grown as a result of poverty, emigration, inadequate nutrition, damaged agriculture, unclean water, and other factors. It should come as no surprise that Pakistan is the 99th-least hungry nation out of 121, with a score of 26.1, according to the Global Hunger Index. A weak municipal government and limited logistical supplies would have been swept away if Cyclone Biparjoy, which generated brutal hot spells, dust storms, and cloudbursts in southern Sindh, had touched Pakistan.
The fact that the UN chief has referred to this as “the era of global boiling” and that new study suggests that the hottest summer to date may actually be “the coolest one left” does not help. All governing bodies must treat climate vulnerability as a national emergency for these vital reasons; Drainage systems, dams, waterways, warning systems, and pre-disaster management should all receive investment. Reforestation and the protection of green cover, particularly mangroves, can also reduce flooding risks. Without outstanding workforce and human-centric climate management systems, an adaptation strategy cannot be implemented. If politicians act quickly, we can prevent the worst from happening. The sun must provide life, not destroy it.
