
KARACHI:
Pakistan began receiving abnormally heavy rain in mid-June, and, by late August, drenching downpours were declared a national emergency. The southern part of the Indus River, which traverses the length of the country, became a vast lake. Villages have become islands, surrounded by putrid water that stretches to the horizon. Floodwaters could take months to recede. Pakistan is currently experiencing one of the worst environmental disasters in the world.
One-third of the country is under water. Nearly 1,500 people have died and countless others injured among a total of 33 million affectees. Also, 325,000 homes and huge infrastructure have been destroyed, 735,000 livestock lost and crops over 8.3 million acres damaged — and the numbers are feared to increase. According to rough estimates, damages are worth more than $30 billion, an astronomical amount for a developing country like Pakistan.
Pakistan ranks 18th out of 191 countries on the 2019 Inform Risk Index which gauges vulnerability to humanitarian crises and disasters. This risk is driven particularly by the nation’s exposure to earthquakes and the risks of internal conflict. However, Pakistan also has high exposure to flooding and some exposure to tropical cyclones and their associated hazards, and drought. Disaster risk in Pakistan is also driven by its social vulnerability. Pakistan’s vulnerability ranking (37 out of 191) is due to its multidimensional poverty.
A recent report by the World Weather Attribution, a collection of mostly volunteer scientists from around the world who do realtime studies of extreme weather, says climate change could have increased the most intense rainfall over a short period in the worst affected areas by about 50%. The floods were a one in 100-year event, but similar events are likely to become more frequent in future as global temperatures continue to rise, says the report. There is, therefore, the need to adopt measures to reduce humaninduced greenhouse gas emissions to limit the losses from climate events.
Syed Tahir Rashdi
Shahdadpur
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2022.
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