Daily Times

Weather-related deaths are always making the headlines. People die from extreme heat; cold nights also kill, and heavy downpours lead to collapsed roofs leaving entire families dead sometimes. The ongoing spell of snowfall and showers has left 25 people dead in Balochistan and 59 others in Azad Jammu and Kashmir as the whole country is experiencing extreme weather. This is the age of unusual weather patterns thanks to ugly and deadly climate change. According to Geremenwatch 2020 report, more than 526,000 people have died all over the world and $3.3 trillion losses were incurred from 1998 to 2018. In this period, Pakistan’s share was 9,989 deaths and $3.8 billion in losses due to more than 300 extreme weather events. According to officials, the ongoing spell of snowfall in Quetta is the most severe in 20 years. So much so, a flight landed at the Quetta Airport from Saudi Arabia but it could not fly back due to heavy snow cover on the runway. Road passengers also remained stranded in parts of Balochistan a, for the first time, three to four feet snow was recorded in Qilla Saifullah. There is no traffic on Quetta-Chaman highway as the Khozak-Pass linking Pakistan with Afghanistan is under heavy snowfall suspending Afghan transit trade. In several parts of Balochistan, Levies Force and Frontier Corps have rescued families stranded on roads, while many are still waiting for help. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority should arrange helicopters to rescue stranded people and provide food to those who cannot be evacuated.

Azad Kashmir is another area experiencing very harsh weather as 59 people have been killed and several others wounded in the rain and snow-related incidents in the last two days. These calamities point towards changing realities. Pakistan is already fifth on the Global Climate Risk Index 2020; the list of nations most affected by climate change. The ranking shows Pakistan downgrading in terms of environmental security as the 2018 report had put Pakistan as the eighth most vulnerable country. Things are going from bad to the worse as the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report of 2016 predicts “increasing impacts and resulting increases in global adaptation costs by 2030 or 2050 that will likely be much higher than currently expected: two-to-three times higher than current global estimates by 2030, and potentially four-to-five times higher by 2050”. *