Pakistan is not availing of the natural system to keep temperatures low, despite warnings of an impending heatwave
HYDERABAD: People are familiar with the fact that trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release it at night. When they are destroyed, that carbon is released out. However, as is often the case, the reality is more complicated.
Scientists from UC Davis conducted a study that found that if forests are lost, the temperature would cross 45 degrees Celsius — which is a limit being reached already in Pakistan. This is due to the fact that forests absorb heat from the sun during the day and retain it at night, due to which forests remain cool. Pakistan is not availing of this natural system to keep temperatures low, despite warnings of an impending heatwave by meteorologists. Last summer, temperatures in Karachi touched 45 to 50 degrees Celsius. Many people died due to suffocation and high amounts of carbon dioxide in the air.
Global changes are also taking place. In 2014, we received little rain, as compared with the year 2015. In 2016, we observed a huge ice storm in Sindh due to a distortion in the environment, which causes unscheduled rains and heavy disruption, leading to irregular patterns. All of this is owed to the lack of trees in our country.
Compared with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan do not have much greenery. The K-P government took a commendable initiative by undertaking a tree plantation drive aiming to plant over 1.2 billion trees. Lastly, protecting our Earth from damage is not only the responsibility of our government, the people of Pakistan ought to play their roles in taking care of their immediate environment as well.
Tahir Aziz Rustamani
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2016.
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