Sharmila warns against dangers of climate change

Climate change is affecting country’s socio-economic development, says PPP minister

KARACHI: Climate change is affecting the socio-economic development of the country, stated Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharmila Farooqi in a statement issued on Sunday. She maintained that the mean annual temperature of the country was rising, with Sindh and Balochistan showing  the greatest increase. Despite this, she added, the Sindh government had adopted effective policies to tackle this issue.

“By the end of this century the temperature in Pakistan will be about one degree Celsius higher compared to the global average,” asserted Farooqi, adding that sea levels had risen in the country due to this.

The MPA claimed that according to the Senate’s Standing Committee on Science and Technology, the coastal areas of Badin and Thatta would likely sink within the next 30 years, and Karachi in the next 60 years. The relevant institutions must carry out studies and save the coastal areas of Sindh from sea intrusion, she added.

Farooqi also highlighted that climate change could disrupt food availability and affect food quality, because the projected increase in temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, extreme weather events and reductions in water availability could all result in reduced agricultural productivity.

She said the country was also facing a loss of biological diversity in many regions, particularly in the Indus Delta, adding that devastating storms, hurricanes and heatwaves caused by climate change could be life-threatening in smaller countries with limited resources.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2020.