Climate impacts

A report prepared by Resilient Future International (RFI) for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has revealed that Pakistan’s rural and urban areas are set to face greater consequences of climate change in the coming decades. The report warns of water scarcity, increasing locust attacks, and dire healthcare issues. There is no doubt that climate change is upon us in a big way, and Pakistan is likely to bear the brunt if it does not take appropriate steps. Just two days back, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned that an extreme heatwave is about to engulf the country, apparently due to a persistent high pressure in the upper atmosphere. Larger parts of the country will experience around eight to ten degrees Celsius higher than the normal temperature during March every year. This will be coupled with a dry period across the country that will bring in water stress for standing crops. This situation calls for an urgent strategy to help our farmers in crop management, especially of vegetables and orchards. The challenge of coping in the agricultural sector is something the IPCC report has also noted.

Pakistan is essentially an agricultural country, and a lot depends on how much water our farmers have at their disposal. The country has been facing acute water shortage in its arable land, but it is a pity that there is hardly any effort to orient our farmers with the changing climatic conditions. This season Sindh and southern Punjab are about to start early harvesting of wheat, complicating the situation further. Without effective water management, the existing water gets depleted and there is also a lot of wastage due to lack of advice and guidance to farmers.

The federal and provincial governments must start some long-term planning to face this challenge. Dealing with climate change requires both going on the offensive by drastically reducing worldwide emissions and defensive measures to improve our ability to deal with extreme weather events. As a country that is already prone to flooding – and spectacularly ill-equipped to deal with it – any further climate-change impacts would be devastating. Our experiences in Sindh, which has suffered regular monsoon flooding over the last decade, show that we are nowhere near ready. In Karachi, a coastal city that could be inundated by the ravages of climate change, the problem has been made worse by greedily reclaiming land. The government has shown no appetite to take on the building mafia and ensure structures meet the enhanced safety standards that will be needed to protect against climate change. Around the country deforestation continues apace. Already a water-insecure nation, we are projected to have an emergency on our hands soon. Yet, beyond lip service, we have done nothing to prepare for the calamity that awaits.