By Sardar Khan Niazi
Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change impacts is quite evident. Recurrent spells of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, glacial lake outbursts, cyclones, and heat waves have taken a heavy toll on both life and property and adversely affected the country’s economic growth.
The super flood of 2010, for instance, killed 1,600 people, inundated an area of 38,600 square kilometers, and caused damage worth around $10 billion. Similarly, the Karachi heat wave (June 2015) led to the death of more than 1,200 people.
In August 2020, Karachi received the heaviest rain in a single day ever in its history when 231 mm of rain lashed out in just 12 hours. During August 2020, only Karachi received 484 mm of rain. It is the highest rainfall record over the last 90 years.
From June to August 2022, flooding affected most of Pakistan. The provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh were worst hit, while floods also affected other parts of the country. At least 1,500 people died in the flooding with 16 million children affected.
Sea level impacts on the coastal areas and its resources may be large as already evident in the inundation of low-lying areas, degradation of mangrove forests, declining drinking water quality, and decrease in fish and shrimp productivity.
Pakistan has a 1,046 km-long coastline that stretches along the border of the Arabian Sea in the South of the country falling within the administrative boundaries of the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan.
The Sindh coastal zone’s vulnerability is considered higher than that of the Baluchistan coastal areas because of its tidal flat topography and higher population concentration with marked industrial activities along coastal areas, such as Karachi.
Pakistan potentially faces a major climate change challenge. A concerted effort by the government and civil society at all levels is required to mitigate these threats.
Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Our dear homeland has confronted terrible floods, droughts, and cyclones in recent years that have killed and displaced thousands, destroyed livelihoods, and damaged infrastructure.
Months after a wave of floods had forced Pakistan to realize it stood at the edge of a climatic precipice, another round of torrential rains has returned to spread turmoil across Karachi and many coastal areas of Sindh, as cyclone Biparjoy looms large.
Of late, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had heavy downpours and thunderstorms that claimed 30 lives as 140 more sustained serious injuries. Climate change raises the prospect that these and other natural hazards will increase in frequency and severity in the coming decades.
In the last few decades, the annual temperature in Pakistan has increased. The number of heat wave days per year has increased nearly fivefold. Annual precipitation has historically shown high variability but has slightly increased. The sea level along the Karachi coast has risen.
Under climate change scenarios, Pakistan is going to experience increased variability of river flows due to increased variability of precipitation and the melting of glaciers. Demand for irrigation water may increase due to higher evaporation rates.
Climatic changes are expected to have wide-ranging impacts on Pakistan: reduced agricultural productivity, increased variability of water availability, increased coastal erosion and seawater incursion, and increased frequency of extreme climatic events.
Climate change is because of human activities that are slowly but surely, ruining our planet’s ecosystem. Burning of fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil, deforestation, and rapid industrialization are some of the main causes. These actions release a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which traps heat and disturbs the balanced temperature of our planet.
Addressing these risks requires the mainstreaming of climate change into national strategy and policy; and climate-smart investments in infrastructure, businesses, and skills.
