UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

LAHORE,
CITY CAMPUS KSK.

Submitted To

Miss Saba Ajmal

Submitted By

Amna Aslam
Department

Biomedical Engineering

Registration#:
2018-BME-43

Climate Emergency
DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 1
What is Climate
Climate is defined as an area's long-term weather patterns. The simplest
way to describe climate is to look at average temperature and
precipitation over time. Other useful elements for describing climate
include the type and the timing of precipitation, amount of sunshine,
average wind speeds and directions, number of days above freezing,
weather extremes, and local geography.
Climate of Asia
A vast area with a subarctic climate lies farther inland and generally
southward. It is isolated from the Arctic Ocean and is little influenced by
the Pacific because the prevailing winds blow from the west. This area
experiences great extremes of temperature. Summers are short, but
temperatures can reach as high as 34°C (94°F), and winter temperatures
are among the coldest in the world. South of the subarctic regions is a
broad stretch of land having a humid continental climate with short
summers. Winters are severe, but summer days are warm or even hot. In
Russia, the subarctic region extends from the border with Poland on the
west to Siberia on the east, and includes much of the country’s best
farmland. Northern China and central Japan also have a humid
continental climate, but their summers are long. This is similar to the
climate of the mid-western United States, although northern China
generally has drier winters. A humid subtropical climate, similar to that
of the southeastern United States, occurs in southeastern China and
southern Japan. Both areas receive precipitation throughout the year.
Northern India south of the Himalayas also has a subtropical climate.

Climate of Pakistan
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Pakistan lies in the temperate zone. The climate is generally arid,
characterized by hot summers and cool or cold winters, and wide
variations between extremes of temperature at given locations. There is
little rainfall. These generalizations should not, however, obscure the
distinct differences existing among particular locations. For example, the
coastal area along the Arabian Sea is usually warm, whereas the frozen
snow-covered ridges of the Karakoram Range and of other mountains of
the far north are so cold year round that they are only accessible by
world-class climbers for a few weeks in May and June of each year.
Pakistan has four seasons: a cool, dry winter from December through
February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy
season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September;
and the retreating monsoon period of October and November. The onset
and duration of these seasons vary somewhat according to location.
Climate change
Climate change is a change in the pattern of weather, and related
changes in oceans, land surfaces and ice sheets, occurring over time
scales of decades or longer.
Climate, in its broadest sense, is the statistical description of the state of
the climate system.
Climate change is a change in the statistical properties of the climate
system that persists for several decades or longer—usually at least 30
years. These statistical properties include averages, variability and
extremes. Climate change may be due to natural processes, such as
changes in the Sun’s radiation, volcanoes or internal variability in the
climate system, or due to human influences such as changes in the
composition of the atmosphere or land use.
Changes in climate can occur through both natural and human-induced
causes.

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Effects and Impacts of climate change
There is growing global consensus that climate change is humankind’s
greatest threat in modern times and is likely to have profound
consequences for socio-economic sectors such as health, food
production, energy consumption and security and natural resource
management.
Climate change is impacting every region of the globe, but in Africa and
Asia, the vulnerability is much higher. Most of the world’s
undernourished people 850 million live here. Spread of viral and vector-
borne diseases, such as dengue, hepatitis and malaria are rampant. In
Africa, according to an estimate, 600 million people would be water
stressed by 20504. In Asia, increasing floods would affect more than a
billion people by 2050, while agriculture produce could fall by 50% by
20205. In Central Asia alone about 10,000 square km of desert is created
every year. Poverty, resource scarcity and lack of capacity accentuates
national security concerns due to existing fault lines, mistrust and
exploitation of water resources leading to fissures, unrest and conflicts.
Darfur is a prime example, where conflict began as an ecological crisis,
partly from climate change, fueled by a 20-year Sahelian drought.
Climate change was seen as a stress factor in Arab Spring too, as rising
food prices aggravated regional turmoil when political instability and
socio-economic fissures were already rife. Changes in precipitation
patterns have caused dry regions to get drier and wet ones to get wetter,
resulting in floods, desertification, droughts and lower crop yields.
Globally 12 million hectares of land is lost every year, resulting in
multiple human and physical security issues. During last five years,
Pakistan witnessed frequent and devastating floods and continuous
droughts, mainly in Sindh and Baluchistan. It is time to adopt early
prevention strategies to deal with this emerging security challenge.
Political, military actions and mobilization of financial resources would
play central role to deal with these challenges. More research on security
DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 4
dimensions of climate change will play a vital role to reshape and
modify Pakistan’s adaptation plan according to emerging
human security needs and demands.
Climate Change Indicators in Pakistan
Environment and climate change are inextricably linked to sustainable
development. Pakistan requires greater progress in environmental
protection. Water scarcity is increasing, land productivity is decreasing
and climate change is worsening these threats. The risk of natural
disasters, exacerbated by climate change as well as economic shocks, is
adding to existing vulnerabilities. Climate change is inevitable and is a
prospective 'Threat Multiplier' for Pakistan's national security as
Pakistan is placed very high in Climate Risk and Vulnerability. In recent
years, visible changes in Pakistan’s hydrological cycle have been
observed in the form of:
 Changing precipitation pattern
 Droughts
 Water availability periods
 Frequency and intensity of heat waves
 Precipitation events
 Weather-induced natural disasters
Precipitation over Pakistan has increased on an average of 25%.
However, no significant change is expected in annual precipitation in
near future. It is projected that climate change will increase the
variability of monsoon rains resulting in increased frequency and
severity of floods and droughts. Pakistan contributes very little (135th)
to Green House Gases (GHGs) but remains one of the most vulnerable
countries10. It contributes only about 0.8% of the total global GHG
emissions. Moreover, total estimated area under forest cover is around
4.22 million hectares, which comprises of 4.8% of total landmass11.

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Deforestation
Pakistan has highest annual deforestation rate in Asia. Forests currently
cover only 2.5 per cent of the country’s land, according to the latest
findings of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The report says that more
than 61,000 hectares (approx. over 151,500 acres) of forest land have
been converted to non-forest use in the country since its inception.
Experts have warned that Pakistan will run out of forests within the next
50 years if deforestation continues at the current rate.
The WWF report says that over 99,711 acres of forest land in Punjab and
27,874-acre forests in Sindh have been converted to non-forest uses. In
this regard, it says, the beneficiaries remain some government
departments, politicians and other influential people having close contact
with respective governments.
When Pakistan gained its independence in the late 1940s, 33 percent of
the country was covered in forests. But according to figures released by
the Ministry of Climate Change in 2015, only 5 percent of the
country now has tree cover. Some nongovernmental reports suggest
current forest cover is actually lower at 3 percent.
Domestic energy needs combined with poverty serves as a powerful
motivation and factor to cut the forests to satisfy local needs Pakistanis
have resorted to clearing their forests to cook their food.
In Pakistan, another cause for deforestation is timber mafia. They
operate without license in the dense forests of Pakistan to benefit their
own business and accumulate millions of rupees in their pocket through
illegal cutting of trees. According to news reports, it is shadowy network
of politically well-connected individuals and firms that chop the trees
bribe forest department officials and locals to look other way while they
transport wood in the darkness of night.

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The urgent measures recommended to the relevant authorities to curb the
negative trend are immediate placement of a ban on forest land
conversions, commercial harvesting and allotments; spread of awareness
among lawmakers for proper legislation to restrict land conversions; and
recovery of forest land from encroachers and its subsequent
reforestation. after years of deforestation, the government of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP), one of Pakistan’s four provinces, is focused on
large-scale afforestation.

Global Warming
The term global warming means increase in greenhouse effect. The
greenhouse effect is a natural process by which the earth holds some of
the energy of sunrays, and utilizes it to warm it enough to sustain life on
it. The human activities like burning of fossil fuels, excessive smoke
discharges from factories and the depletion of forests have led to an
increase in the concentration of the greenhouse gases, mainly carbon
dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, in the earth’s outer atmosphere
which are responsible for trapping excessive heat inside the environment
and thus increasing the overall temperature of the earth, leading to the
phenomenon of global warming. Global warming has emerged as one of
the major threats to our planet in this century. It has been proved that due
to the increase of the greenhouse gases in our outer atmosphere, the
earth’s temperature has warmed by 0.74°C over the last 100 years,
leading to floods, famines, droughts and cyclones among other natural
disasters. The major part of the Pakistani land is dry and barren, mainly
because of the great variability in the climatic parameters. The major
water resource of Pakistan is the melting snow from the Himalayan
glaciers, as well as the heavy monsoon rainfalls.
The observed effects of global warming so far are:

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 1. Increase in the mean global sea level (1-2mm per year over the last
century);
2. Worldwide retreat of glaciers;
3. Decrease in snow cover and thawing of permafrost;
4. Shifts of plant and animal ranges;
5. Earlier flowering of plants
6. Birds breeding seasons and emergence of insects;
7. Increased events of coral bleaching.
Although Pakistan itself contributes very little to the overall emissions
of the greenhouse gases, yet it remains one of the most severely hit
countries of the world by the process of global warming. Global
warming has affected the climate of Pakistan in the form of melting of
glaciers, recurrent flooding, and droughts.
Pakistan’s economy has been crippled heavily by devastating and
repetitive floods during the last decade. In the past 10 years, Pakistan
has been hit by floods almost every year. The flood of 2010 remains as
one of the biggest tragedies in the world’s history, with 20 million
people affected by it. The floods resulted in approximately 1,781 deaths,
injured 2,966 people and destroyed more than 1.89 million homes.
Although nowhere near the 2010 flood, the 2011 flood also wreaked
havoc, and affected 5.3 million people and 1.2 million homes in Sindh,
as well as inundating 1.7 million acres of arable land.
Droughts
A drought is a period of abnormally dry weather due to lack of rainfall.
The chief characteristic of a drought is a decrease of water availability in
a particular period and over a particular area. Pakistan’s economy has
been punched heavily by the continuous spell of droughts for many
years, particularly in the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh. The
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droughts in these areas have reduced the river flows, resulting in drying
up of the irrigation canals, leading to a severe agricultural deprivation. It
has also been responsible for causing immense losses to poultry and
other animals, causing a general deficiency of food and water for people.
The increased temperatures because of the increased greenhouse gases
as well as a mismanagement of the water reservoirs need to be blamed
for the condition.
Floods
Climates and environments have a lot to do with flooding also. A higher
altitude might be exposed to more rain than a lower altitude. Also a
damper, wetter climate creates it more susceptible for rain, which causes
it to flood (flash flood) more frequently than a hot and dry climate.
Hurricanes also effect floods to. When a hurricane reaches land, there is
an enormous amount of water that is carried along with it. This water
dumped on land and as water levels rise, flooding is created.
The effects of floods are devastating. Many times floods can destroy
everything. Houses can be torn off their foundation because the water
has made its structure weaker, tar can be pulled off road causing major
pot holes, earth can be sunken in creating a different landscape, tons of
trees have the possibility of being ripped out. To see the effects after a
flood is not a pretty site. Water has to be pumped out of flooded civilian
areas.
Another thing that floods effect is the environmental and economical
situations. When floods occur, there is a large amount of water that runs
over the ground. Loose soil, rocks, and landscape can be dramatically
altered, leaving behind a rugged, changed terrain. Loose soil can create
mud slides, which create hazardous situations for living things nearby.
The economy after the flood can be one of the greatest effected. Billions
of dollars have been donated by a countries government to rebuild and
payback what was lost.
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Climate Change Policy of Pakistan
Pakistan, which has been listed as the 7th most vulnerable country
affected by climate change, is now seriously tackling the vagaries of
weather, both at the official as well as non-official level.
Pursuant to an initiative launched by the Pakistan Parliament’s Upper
House, the Senate, which specially entrusted a sub-Committee of the
Standing Committee on Climate Change to focus on “Green and Clean”
Islamabad, media, civil society and students have taken up the cudgels
on combating climate change.
According to experts, Pakistan has faced around 150 freak weather
incidents as a result of climate change in the past 20 years: flash floods,
smog in winter, forest fires in summer, melting glaciers, freaky
heatwaves, landsides, displaced population, etc. During floods in 2010-
11, almost 10% of Pakistan’s population was displaced in 2 provinces,
one in the North and another in the South. Last year, the costs of extreme
weather as a consequence of climate change, were listed at $ 384 million
and in the past 20 years, there has been a cost of almost $ 2 billion to the
national economy because of the ravages of climate change. Efforts are
being undertaken to mitigate the problem. For instance, some $ 120
million funds have been expended in the country in the past 5 years to
arrest forest degradation and to promote tea plantations. There has also
an effort to bring about more ecofriendly energy mix for Pakistan.
Pakistan has an installed capacity of over 30,000 MG of electricity. Out
of this, 60% is being generated through imported fuel including furnace
oil, coal etc. while 30% is via hydropower, 6% nuclear and only 4%
generated on renewable energy. The share of renewable energy would be
enhanced to 25% of the total by 2025 and 30% by 2030.
In this context, an interesting conference convened in the last week of
March in the picturesque British countryside retreat at Wilton Park,
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organized by the Climate Parliament, a UK-based body promoting
cooperation on climate change among parliamentarians. A large number
of parliamentarians from Asian countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Nepal, India, China, Japan, Pakistan and Mongolia participated, as well
as leading renewable energy experts plus the International Solar
Alliance.

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