KARACHI:
Ordinarily, rainfall is considered a blessing, but the recent monsoon rains have become a burden for most people across the country. Heavy rains have damaged critical infrastructure including bridges, roads, buildings, and highways. Many people have lost their lives because of electrocution, flooding, and building collapses whilst thousands have been displaced. Heavy rainfall has destroyed fields and crops causing enormous losses for the agricultural sector. Unfortunately, the calamity is expected to continue and become more frequent in the coming years.
Due to greenhouse gas emissions, the earth is becoming warmer and as the air warms, it can hold more water vapour than air at cool temperatures. With a rise in temperatures, more water evaporates from soils, plants, oceans, etc, which becomes vapour. Additional water vapour means there’s more water available for heavier rain and snow.
Southern and southwestern parts of Pakistan have already received more rainfall than usual, which has raised alarm about the forthcoming climate catastrophe. The Global Climate Risk Index ranked Pakistan among the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. I cannot help but wonder how Pakistan’s economic, social, and political infrastructure will survive without any largescale changes or measures. The is an urgent need to address the climatic issues and build critical infrastructure to withstand the impact of climate change.
Asad Jabbar
Hyderabad
Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2022.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
