As Pakistan recovers from the deadliest floods in its history, experts are warning that these devastating events are becoming more and more common due to climate change. With over 33 million people affected and over 1000 lives lost in the recent floods, the impact of climate change on Pakistan is undeniable. Climate change has made Pakistan’s weather patterns more erratic, resulting in more floods, heatwaves and droughts.
Earlier this year, Pakistan had extreme heat waves that caused glacial lake outbursts. In Jacobabad, a city in Sindh Pakistan, the mercury reached 51℃ in mid-May, making it one of the hottest places on Earth. Furthermore, the Monsoon season started earlier this year which created havoc. This showed that Climate Change is real and is happening now.
Rainfall across the country is almost three times higher than 30 years average. Continuous heavy rains cause flooding, land sliding, and displacement. Climate change is the main reason for an extended period of rain that has led to floods. Pakistan is a developing country and its fossil fuel consumption is far below the threshold limit. However, the country is at the front line of experiencing impacts of climate change, including extreme weather patterns, glacier melting, monsoon, and flash floods.
The country has the largest number of glaciers outside the polar region. This blessing has now become a curse in this situation of global warming. Since the last decade, Pakistan has experienced a 0.6-degree rise in average temperature. This causes glacier melting. The whole water cycle is disturbed, which has also changed the precipitation pattern. Furthermore, rivers that receive water directly from glaciers are overflowing and continuous rain adds fuel to the situation.
Climate change is the most significant reason for this mass-scale destruction, but poor governance is also responsible for it. Monsoon rains had been causing floods in low-lying areas of the country, but the negligence of respective departments has made the situation worse.
Since Pakistan is an agricultural country, the government perceived that water governance involves providing water to crops only. However, it is much more than that. Despite having a large number of glaciers outside the polar region, Pakistan is a water-scarce country. The main reason is poor water governance that, at one extreme, leaves country water scarce while at the other extreme causes floods.
Having fewer dams is another culprit of floods in the country. Building dams on rivers is a sustainable solution to manage floods. They have enough capacity to store water that would otherwise go into the ocean and is of no use. Stored water can be used for various purposes, including electricity production and irrigation. Dams might release water back to rivers at a controlled speed. Or divert to use water for other purposes, including groundwater recharge.
Another reason for mass-scale devastation is having no disaster risk management plan. The way the government tackled previous disasters has proved that they have poor preparedness for natural disasters. It left millions of people homeless without food and clothes. Besides, political instability is the main hindrance to innovation and development. Politicians having their personal interests do not care about national interests and the local population suffers from it.
Better planning and sustainable development are the only solutions. Building flood-resilient systems can help to avoid these massive destructions in future. Low-lying areas are at great risk of floods. Most of the people living there are poor with no investments. A proper plan for accommodation and innovation in those areas could improve the situation.
A proactive approach to managing disasters can save human lives as well as save the country from monetary losses. This could be possible if each government department works to its full capacity and if risks are analyzed and mitigated beforehand. Building resilient systems, sustainable management, and timely preparedness for natural disasters could be the solution to avoid such floods in future. Above all, giving prime importance to the environment and climate change during planning and development can make the situation a lot better. However, if we continue to ignore these issues, we will be left with nothing but more devastation in the future.
The writer is a researcher and a jounalist.