Introduction:

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural,
such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of
climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Climate change in Pakistan is a major issue for the country. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate change.
As with the changing climate in South Asia as a whole, the climate of Pakistan has changed over the past several
decades, with significant impacts on the environment and people. Between 1999 and 2018, Pakistan ranked 5 th in the
countries affected by extreme weather caused by climate change. While recently, At least 65 people have reportedly
died due to the heatwave, but the actual numbers are certainly higher, and it’s caused massive flooding and
infrastructure damage in GILGIT-Baltistan, and in whole of interior Sindh, Punjab and SAWAT, including KPK,
also water shortages in Karachi, and placed greater demands on the country’s weak electrical grid. Despite monsoon
rains beginning in late June, causing at least 77 deaths many parts of the country still swelter. Pakistan should treat
these climate disasters as a full-fledged national security emergency before they stoke conflict that adds further
stress amid the country’s other numerous challenges.
For the past 20 years, Pakistan has consistently ranked among the top 10 most vulnerable countries on the
Climate Risk Index, with 10,000 fatalities due to climate-related disasters and financial losses amounting to about $4
billion from 173 extreme weather events.
Challenges faced by Pakistan
Temperature change:
While the effects of climate change are highly region-specific, it can be said with a high degree of
confidence that mean surface temperatures are rising and extreme weather events will increase over time.
In May 2022, a severe heatwave was recorded in Pakistan and India. The temperature reached 51°C.
Climate change makes such heatwaves 100 times more likely. Without climate change heatwaves, more severe that
those who occurred in 2010 are expected to arrive 1 time in 312 years. Now they are expected to occur every 3 years
General future projections for Pakistan’s climate are:
 Pakistan’s projected temperature increase is expected to be higher than the global
average.
 Projected temperature increase in northern parts is expected to be higher than the
southern parts of the country.
 The frequency of hot days and hot nights is expected to increase significantly.
 Pakistan’s rainfall projections do not indicate any systematic changing trends.
 An increasing trend in the rainfall over the Upper Indus Basin and decreasing trend in the
Lower Indus Basin.
Extreme weather:
Extreme weather, such as cyclones or intense monsoons are likely to increase in Pakistan because of
increased sea and atmospheric temperature. Government projections, highlight considerable increase in the
frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, coupled with erratic monsoon rains causing frequent and intense
floods and droughts. For example, between 1998-2018 Pakistan reported more than 150 extreme weather events.
In 2022 catastrophic floods hit the country. The main causes were increased precipitation and glaciers
melting fueled by climate change. One third of the country was under water. According to Climate minister Sherry
Rehman this “has exceeded every boundary, every norm we’ve seen in the past,”. 33 million people were affected.
Sea level rise:
Sea level rise along the Karachi coast is estimated at 1.1 mm per year (mm/year) for the period of 1856 –
2000 according to the National Institute of Oceanography, Pakistan.[20] According to IPCC estimates, the mean rate
of global average sea level rise was 1.7 mm/year between 1901 and 2010, and 3.2 mm/year between 1993 and 2010.
This change in sea level is thought to be due to two major processes, the thermal expansion of the oceans and the
melting of glacier mass. This SLR will most likely affect low-lying coastal areas south of Karachi toward Keti
Bander and Indus River delta more than other regions of Pakistan.
The impact of SLR on coastal areas and its resources may already be evident in the inundation of low-lying
areas, degradation of mangrove forests, declining drinking water quality, and decrease in fish and shrimp
productivity in those regions.
The vulnerability of the Sindh coastal zone is considered higher than the Balochistan coastal areas because
of the former’s flat tidal topography and higher population concentration with industrial activity along coastal areas
(such as Karachi). This rise in sea level is also expected to increase the rate of soil erosion along the coastal belt.
Glacier melting:
Glacial retreat in parts of the Himalayas poses risks of meltwater flooding. In 2020, melting of a glacier in
Shispare led to evacuations of the village of Hassanabad, Hunza. A 2014 remote sensing study suggested the
situation of glaciers in Pakistan varies between regions of the country. The devastating 2022 floods were in part
driven by glaciers melting.

Economic Impacts:
The poverty rate of Pakistan, when estimated at $2 per day purchasing power parity, exceeds 50% of the
total population with stark provincial disparities. This high prevalence of poverty, coupled with the lack of and
access to resources, places the country in the low human development category, ranked 146 out of 187 countries,
well below the average human development index value compared to other South Asian countries.
Agricultural impacts:
Future projections for Pakistan are that major crop yields such as of wheat and rice are expected to decrease
significantly. The 2022 Pakistan floods mainly caused by increased precipitation and glaciers melting fueled by
climate change, destroyed around 50% of the crops of Pakistan what can lead to food shortages.
Migration:
Due to extreme weather and uncertain economic outcomes, rural communities in Pakistan have been
displaced in large numbers to major cities. Experts expect 20% of the population to move to major cities; current
migration patterns included 700,000 people a year moving from rural to urban environments. Larger estimates,
including major displacements because of extreme weather, suggest as many as 20 million migrants from rural to
urban communities since 2010.
Conclusion:
Developing countries like Pakistan are highly affected by the perils of climate change despite sharing little
amount of greenhouse gasses as compared to the developed nations. Corona virus will further worsened the situation
because economic damages caused by the pandemic will be at the first priority in post corona times rather than
climate change. Recovery caused by shutdown of the world will again get green Signal of climate change due to
rapid industrial work after the corona virus. Pakistan will be skeptical to the challenges of climate change because its
economy is highly dependent on Agriculture. Adaptation and mitigation policies along with good governance would
be helpful to cope the challenge of climate change. In 2018 a five-year plan was launched by Prime Minister of
Pakistan Imran khan, in this plan extensive tree plantation campaign was started to combat rising temperature,
floods and other climate related events. This is well planned program which should be adopted at school, college,
university and at public and private level.