Weather has become punishing Pakistan in 2022

Alfredo Boada Mola*

According to scientists, ongoing man-made climate change likely contributed to the deadly floods in the country since June, which destroyed 1.7 million homes.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, more than 735,000 head of livestock perished, while more than 8,000 km of highways and 3,000 km of railways were destroyed, hundreds of bridges demolished, several hectares of crops were destroyed, and more was totally damaged. of $30 billion.

Pakistan experiences heavy and heavy rains during the annual monsoon season, which is critical to agriculture and water supply, but such heavy rains have not been seen for decades.

Officials blamed climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events around the world.

The World Meteorological Organization has declared that meteorological disasters such as the one witnessed in Pakistan in 2022 have increased fivefold in the past 50 years, with an average of 115 deaths per day.

Fahad Saeed, a researcher at the Islamabad Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, said the flash floods in the region showed once again the need for rich countries to drastically increase financing to help poor countries adapt to the climate.

In Pakistan, the states of Sindh and Balochistan were hardest hit by the currents, after receiving more than historically normal rainfall in August, according to data from the Meteorological Department.

The loss of livestock, crops and food reserves could push many families in the country further into poverty and fuel food insecurity across this South Asian country.

Meteorologists have previously alerted the possibility of severe hydrometeorological phenomena in the catchment areas, resulting in floods in major rivers of the country.

They also expected sudden floods in the higher regions, which would be favored by the melting of snow due to higher than normal temperatures in the mountains, and this finally happened.

One of the reasons for the increase in precipitation is the continuation of the La Niña phenomenon in the tropical Pacific Ocean for the third year in a row.

During such an event, ocean temperatures drop, disrupting the trade winds over the sea, and this disturbance causes a ripple effect on the global climate, typically resulting in heavy rains in South Asia.

The heatwaves that hit Pakistan from March to June reportedly accelerated the melting of glaciers in the highland provinces, increasing river flows and causing severe flooding.

Destructive floods are expected to become more frequent as the planet warms.

Pakistani climate and environment experts believe that the effects of global warming on massive floods in the country are only the beginning and that the effects will become more severe and extreme in the coming years.

The monsoon season is essential to irrigate crops and replenish lakes and dams in the Indian subcontinent, but this time it has affected one in seven Pakistanis.

Islamabad and the United Nations launched the Flood Response Plan, which prioritizes interventions in the areas of education, food security, agriculture, health and nutrition, protection, shelter, non-food items and water, sanitation and hygiene.

Solidarity before climate change

During the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), which took place in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, urged international solidarity and cooperation to address climate change across the planet. .

The official stressed that developing countries exposed to global warming, such as Pakistan, are witnessing the devastating effects of this phenomenon, despite their small contribution to the emission of greenhouse gases.

Sharif sensitized the international community about his country’s plight after torrential rains, floods and landslides and urged the world to wake up to the climate challenge and translate commitments into real results, with transformative change in the flow of skills, finance and technology.

Climate deterioration in Pakistan

Pakistan is reeling from extreme heat waves and extreme weather events from flash floods to wildfires, amid concerns about their impact on the health and livelihoods of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities.

It usually gets hotter in India and Pakistan from March to June when the monsoon arrives under normal circumstances.

According to scientists, climate change is increasing air circulation from the Sahara, Arabian and Persian deserts to the Indus and Ganges valleys, including Indian desert regions such as Rajasthan.

This circulation was less frequent before global warming, and warm air was drawing north of the Himalayas, but today’s weather conditions are drawing warm air south of the Himalayas.

The situation in India and Pakistan involves the blockage of cold air from the north by the high elevations of the Himalayas, which in turn feed the monsoons and collect water from the moist southerly winds to irrigate one of the world’s largest landmasses. . the scientist.

In recent years, the impact of climate change has accelerated in South Asia in the form of extreme heat and unpredictable weather patterns.

Jacobabad, in Pakistan’s Sindh province, is one of the hottest cities on the planet, with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius this year.

The unexpected heat wave in the Indian subcontinent, which eclipsed the spring season in March and April, was followed by a series of extreme weather events in the country.

In May there was a massive flood from the glacial lake in Hunza district, Gilgit-Baltistan, and although timely warning by the authorities prevented many casualties, 22 families were displaced by the flash flood.

In addition, orchards and crops that are an important source of livelihood in the mountains of the delicate Hindu Kush ecosystem have been destroyed.

Also in the fifth month of the year, there were major forest fires in Sherani, Balochistan province, destroying 40 percent of the world’s largest pine and wild olive forests, and two other major forest fires in pine forests in Khyber. Pakhtunkhwa.

Forest fires are affecting the livelihoods of the Baloch and Pashtun ethnic minorities, whose main economic activity is the pine trade.

Other residents in the area keep cattle and wild animals that feed on small grasses and other mountain plants that are also affected.

Likewise, many animals and birds, some of which are in danger of extinction, are threatened by outbreaks that destroy their habitats and leave them without food.

Kamran Hussain, WWF’s Pakistan Forest Coordinator, said the fire season, which usually lasts from June to August, has been postponed this year due to extreme temperatures and dry conditions.

These climatic disasters are extremely dangerous for the environment of the mountains and their inhabitants, who suffer physically, economically and mentally in an increasingly unstable environment.

* Prensa Latina correspondent in India

rmh/abm