We have not recovered as a nation from the events of 2020 when the epidemic and lockdown changed our lives. Almost every Pakistani knew someone in his or her circle of friends or relatives who had died because of Covid-19. The year 2021 was not as bad as the year 2020, but the few months of rain did cause havoc. The monsoon season of 2022, with its constant rain from July to August, has once again pushed the country to the edge of calamity. Parts of Sindh, Punjab, and Baluchistan have been declared red zones due to flooding.
The World Weather Attribution reported that the impacts of climate change and global warming have made extreme rainfall more common and more intense across most of the world. This year, the South Asian region is experiencing extreme weather changes in the form of unprecedented Monsoon rain cycles. Earlier in May, Bangladesh faced torrential rain and disastrous flooding as the result of unexpected climate change. Currently, Pakistan has been drenched by extreme monsoon rain cycles, instead of 3 to 4 rain cycles, the country is experiencing its rain cycle. According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, the current catastrophe has affected 33 million people across the country.
The government of Pakistan has announced National Emergency in response to floods as the current crises have generated humanitarian disasters of epic proportions. The third country is in water, this is the amount of land that exceeds the total area of the United Kingdom and affected 15 % of the population in South Asia, approximately 1,200 have been killed. According to a Lawyer specializing in climate change policy, Sara Hayat, approximately 0.8 million livestock have been killed in current rainfall.
What are the reasons behind Pakistan’s catastrophic floods?
Pakistan is facing one of the worst floods in recent history, Pakistani Media reported that millions of people had been evacuated and shifted to a safer place and many are forced to live under the sky due to the current fragile economy and limited resources of Pakistan. Among many other reasons, here are a few main inducements playing a vital role in frequent flooding in Pakistan:
Poor Waste Management
Waste Management has always been a grave issue in Pakistan. Last year, Express tribune reported that Karachi alone produced about 13,500 tons of solid waste and 40 % of that waste was found on streets and roads. In 2021, Pakistan produced 48.5 million tons of solid waste and the burden lies on the fragile waste management policies of countries. Current urban flooding is incurring due to the poor governance and negligence of authorities towards waste management. To tackle extreme climate repercussions Government needs to invest smartly to introduce new policies and their implementation.
Multiple types of Flooding
In 2010, the floods were riverine in nature, which means the majority of impacted areas were surroundings of the Indus river. In 2022, Pakistan is facing three kinds of flooding: Urban flooding, Flash Flooding, and an increase in water levels due to glacier melting. The current crisis cannot be handled by the Pakistani government alone. As the whole world has played its role in Carbon emission, to overcome this catastrophe every developed nation needs to play its role.
Weather Pattern
The threat of Climate Change has been dangling over for so long but this year, South Asia is actually facing the consequences. Usually, Pakistan receives 3 to 4 monsoon cycles of rain but this year, Pakistan is facing the 8th cycle of Monsoon rains. This uninvited nature’s call has perpetuated humongous disaster for the country.
Poor Construction Pattern
Obstruction of the natural flow of water, poor planning, and farming on flood plains have caused devastation not only for Pakistan but for the rest of the world.
Is climate change to blame for the Pakistan floods?
Global warming has become one of the most crucial threats posing to Human existence. In the current climate shift, Global warming and carbon emission are playing a vital role in raising temperatures. The shift in weather patterns is supercharging the water cycle’s evaporation process and messing with rainfall patterns. global warming is raising land and sea temperatures. As warms, air can “hold” more water vapor than air at cooler temperatures hence leading to torrential rains. Pakistan contributes less than 1% of greenhouse gases across the globe, but the country is currently facing exorbitant consequences in form of unprecedented Floods, hence Pakistan is paying the price of
others’ emissions. Climate change is not only a daunting issue for Pakistan but it has now threatened the whole planet. International organizations developed states, and individuals must join hands to tackle current extreme weather changes with applicable and effective strategies for the sake of survival.
Today the South Asian region faces extreme consequences of carbon emission, in the next few years will be some other regions of the globe. Pakistan has over 7,000 glaciers, the greatest quantity of glacier ice outside of the polar regions, which is presently melting on a gigantic scale because of global warming. It is difficult to keep ice from melting, which elevates the water level in streams and tributaries. The solution is simple and clear: construct bigger reservoirs and store the water downstream. Construct riverbanks, smaller dams, and natural canals. This layout is also useful in water scarcity discourse since it has the capacity to preserve water for drinking and irrigation. Building smaller dams and merging streams are indigenous solutions that do not need major technological and financial investments. The problem is our cognitive and intellectual inability, as well as institutions that neglect multidisciplinary research that might work to find interconnected core problems and develop a holistic remedy.
How is Bangladesh defeating floods?
Bangladesh continues to struggle to minimize storm damage, which has contributed to an increase in migration, primarily from coastal areas to cities, but it has reduced deaths by utilizing a multi-layered early warning system, a vast network of cyclone shelters, a large volunteer program with a 50 percent female force, and storm-aware curricula that begin early in schools. The Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF), for example, has directed domestic funds – around $450 million as of 2021 – to climate-related initiatives across the country since 2010. According to the Climate Budget Report, more than 7% of the national budget was set aside to combat climate change between 2021 and 2022.
“We still have floods and cyclones that cause a lot of damage, but we don’t lose lives anymore.” (Saleem Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD))
Pakistan National Disaster Management Agency, for example, stated that it was still reliant on outdated and frequently defective meteorological and hydrological sensors, which occasionally hindered the government from delivering early warnings for flash floods in specific locations. Early warnings have also been hindered by Pakistan’s dependence on the information given by India regarding the flow of water in its eastern rivers, which originate in India. This information is not always shared, according to Mahr Khan, chief meteorologist of the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority.
Conclusion
Future city growth, planning, and development will be influenced by climate change. Cities will accommodate at least 61% of the world's population by 2030. Cities in emerging countries will contain approximately four billion people, which represents about 80% of the global urban population. The government must develop an Integrated Flood Management framework in order to address the larger issues of sustainability, socioeconomic equality, and long-term positive results. It can be achieved by following measures, Proper land, and flood management, Govt must work with coastal management and adopt threat management approaches.
