The latest in a series of alarm bells set ringing by the UN is nothing short of a perfected apocalyptic script. As if Pakistan has not suffered enough wrath of mother nature in the form of floods that can only be described as biblical, the report predicts how we are well on our way to being scorched by an increasingly furious sun. There’s no escaping the fact that climate change is “happening right now, especially for a country about to experience a rise in its annual temperatures to 22.4 degrees Celsius and as many as 124 “extremely hot days” within the next decade. These statistics might not force the government to improve their game at the UN climate conference but the warning that climatically-induced circumstances are making merry as they sharpen their claws to replace strokes as Pakistan’s third leading cause of death by “midcentury” cannot and should not be thrown out of the window. The world does not only owe us reparations for the devastation caused by this year’s “monsoon on steroids.” Our friends in the Global North need to be convinced that without their support and logistics, Pakistan is in no position to research and extend adaptations to all parts of the country. If Faisalabad, a city considered relatively safe from the upsets in the ecosystem, is being said to warm up significantly so much so that its climatically-induced casualties soar through the roof, what about areas in interior Sindh, which have yet to touch dry land months after the floodwaters decided to surprise them? Jacobabad, Nawabshah and Sibi have already emerged among the top hottest places in the world and the onslaught of the lethal heat wave in urban centres like Karachi is becoming part and parcel of the summer season. With a prolonged high temperature, springs have vanished and Pakistan is about to go through a twisting tunnel with no respite in sight. Debilitating for humans and devastating for crops, there’s no telling how a fragile economy like Pakistan can bear the brunt of these lethal changes unless and until the international community steps in our corner. Since we cannot escape heat waves becoming the new summertime normal, wasting any more time in planning our responses would be downright criminal. In the eyes of humanity, all human lives should matter equally! *