Climate change may lead to heat waves, minimise rainfall

Islamabad: Severe global warming and rapid climate changes can lead to a rise in sea level, intense heat waves, drought and diminished rainfall across the country.

Despite producing comparatively less greenhouse gases, Pakistan is facing some of the worst effects of greenhouse gases. Pakistan's global contribution towards greenhouse gases is just 0.3% but we are still facing the `worst form of climate change fallout across the world, said environmental scientist Professor Dr Moazzam Ali Khan.

Explaining the phenomenon of global warming, he said carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases act like a blanket, absorbing infrared radiation and preventing it from escaping into outer space.

The net effect is the gradual heating of the Earth's atmosphere and surface, known as global warming.  To a question, he said climate change was the main factor in rise of the minimum recorded temperature in the country.