Daily Times

A heatwave is described as a period of at least five days with a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius above the normal average. These waves are ravaging several countries across the globe, whilst affecting almost one third of the world population, in terms of wildfires, wasted crops, health problems and killing people. The underlying cause is the trapping of greenhouse gases- that humans have been emitting – in the atmosphere. The emission has already been so severest that even cutting the greenhouse gases today would still impact world’s half population; otherwise around three-quarters by the end of this century.

Drawing on the annals of history supports to contend that the natural environment confronted with the human extremism prior to humans, which resulted in a current multilayered drastic climate change.

Likewise, Pakistan, in addition to wreaked havocs of numerous environmental disasters, is presently witnessing heatwaves. Particularly its densely populated city of Karachi is sweltering in deadly heatwaves. As citizens continuously suffer and die in the city because of the ongoing heatwaves, the narratives are continuously narrated, used and propagated. The underlying aim is to rationalise the deaths and the reasons responsible for averting a due criticism on failure to blur the reality.

Two versions are essential to mention. The first, the poor’s currency is to explain an occurrence of present heatwaves in light of the fate, as is the case with most unfortunate events, to make and bear the loss. Fate certainly prevails. However, committing suicide or killing someone cannot be justified in the framework of fate, since two are highly prohibited and punishable crimes and sins. This kind of narrative distorts the reality and allows the most accountable actors to easily run away. Second is a conspiracy-drawn narrative – as usual – that some developed countries deliberately bring artificial environmental changes for ruining economies of some countries including Pakistan. However, to do so is a tricky and difficult task, because the countries under reference are also confronting with the harshest weather.

The current natural disaster reveals that not substantial steps and strategies were taken to counter that extremism against the environment to save and secure it. Neither old trees were saved, nor new trees have been cultivated significantly

Nonetheless, there is a global connection in the micro-level changes, but not in a conspiring way. The phenomenon helps comprehending the world as a global village. The changes attest how a butterfly effect can cause an effect somewhere too far away.

As some countries are emitting the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide more than others. The gases emit from combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles, buildings, factories, and power plants. The countries, such as China, the State and European Union, which emit more than 50pc of worldwide CO2 are highly accountable for unceasing malevolent changes. Despite, Paris climate agreement, CO2 emission from the said fuel reached at a record level in 2018. To counter such changes, the England – tenth big CO2 – has become first country to declare environment emergency.

Further to global causes, almost every individual has noticeably contributed in changing the environment. Whilst growing up in a village, I observed an adverse transition: from existence of numerous giant trees particularly on the banks of canals and rivers, to extinction of those trees. The trees steadily gone missing unnoticed. Who was abducting them remained unknown and a question, until knowing about wood-mafia. This extinction is not story of a single village, but trees received an equivalent inhuman treatment in other areas too. The trees under attack simultaneously would have been crying and laughing due to human incurred pain and to foresee the upcoming pain for humans.

At the state level, protecting citizens not merely entombing the casualties and such life-threatening changes warrant devising effective plans and implementing them efficiently. But the current natural disaster reveals not substantial steps and strategies were taken to counter that extremism against the environment to save and secure it. Neither old trees were saved, nor new trees have been cultivated significantly. Given that the Karachi is a gigantic industrial city, a hub of industrial waste and emission of gases, the city received not a noteworthy attention of policy makers to devise environment-friendly policies for reducing impact on the health and happiness of inhabitants. Whilst providing security from all threats to its citizen is a prime responsibility of the state.

Another issue that makes the heatwaves unbearable is the power-cuts. The country though naturally is blessed with several sources to produce an abundance of energy like solar, wind, bio-gas, but still it is known as a country of ‘load-shedding’: a phenomenon that is unknown especially in the developed countries. It can be said that as temperature and power cut are enormously directly proportional. In many parts, either electricity is unavailable or with poor voltage, which causes further problems for the citizens to successfully cope with the heatwaves. The poor are again in trouble, as rich can afford generators and air conditions.

Moreover, other confounding factors such as the persistent poverty, illiteracy, unskilled labour, unemployment and population bomb are playing a vital role in making every challenge more complicated. Such determinants compel citizens – who are poor, aged and daily wage labour – to expose themselves to heat and prefer putting own lives at stake than their family members. Those, who do not have choice other than exposing themselves to severe heat for earning the survival of their family members.

Contrary, the complexity creates additional challenges for the state to handle a problem. Every problem indicates a weakness at our ends, that better to be identified, owned and overcome entirely and timely. The need is to unveil and understand the major causes lying behind the hazardous heatwaves that lead towards ending precious lives, especially those. Running away from the causes and the solutions would change next to nothing, but further deteriorate the situation. Hence, exploring and explicating the reasons lying behind the past critical events is indispensable to learn lessons for dealing with aftermaths of any catastrophes as well as combat them in future at an individual, the state, and the global level.

The writer is a PhD scholar at Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, Austria