Since the inception of Pakistan, it has faced division and distortion in different communities and on various issues. Now, it is witnessing the intense climate effects. We have seen the impact in terms of heatwaves, intense weather, heavy monsoons, and floods. It is not just influencing the weather but associated elements with it: the agricultural sector, displacement of communities, and, on a larger scale, our food patterns. What is hurting is overlooking the care and efforts of affected communities.
However, it is necessary to look at the recent history of climate change and its adverse impact on various groups. Is climate change an entirely political matter? Has it yet to impact Pakistan so far? Is it residing in the historical folders? Does it affect the man in the street? The historical context around the issue might help to make sense of the perplexing interplay of effects and what it has done insofar to the different communities of Pakistan.
The scenes of waters flowing in the fields, streets, rural areas, and mountains in different parts of the country brought wholesome attention to the devastating weather conditions, linking it with the climate crisis. Horrific scenes circulating on social media of giant trees, trash buildings, and struggling people for lives in the water started a new debate in the nation. The monsoon of 2022, accompanied by floods in Pakistan, endangered the public.
It affected 33 million – in some reports 35 million – people, which is by and large the population of Canada, approximately Australia’s population, and four times Switzerland’s. The affected people included toddlers, pregnant women, and an older chunk of the population. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), floods killed 1481 people, deteriorated 218000 houses, destroyed 2 million acres of crop, and affected 116 districts nationwide.
The situation was familiar to Pakistan. It has witnessed other floods in its history, but the floods of 2022 have shaken the agricultural roots and perception of natural disasters and revealed the arena of poor political management skills in these situations, which we might have glimpsed in the floods of 2010 and the floods of 2011.
Let’s look at the statistics of previous floods.
US Agency for International Development estimated that the floods of 2010 affected 1.8 million people, causing 1985 deaths and damaging 1.7 million households, which includes the perishing situation of livestock. In the 2011 floods, NASA reported, with satellite, images about the destruction of 100 villages in Southern Punjab, and despite the clouds, horrifying situations turned out across Pakistan. The approximate number of people affected by the floods of 2011 was 18 million people, with 400 deaths, the destruction of 1.6 million houses, and the destruction of 2.1 million acres of agricultural lands.
Statistics show the intensity and variation of damages across different floods. What Pakistan witnessed during the floods of 2022 has revealed falsified claims and an alarm about future orientation: the falsified claim was about the government’s ‘being prepared’ to manage disastrous situations, and the alarming condition was about the increasing climate intensity.
Monsoon rains have done immense damage, eventually causing floods in Pakistan, but the effects of the climate crisis didn’t stop there, and heat waves in Pakistan broke the previous year’s records. According to an Amnesty International report, Pakistan broke the records of the past 60 years in the heat waves meter, which explained the opinion of experts insinuating the correlation between climate change and rising temperatures in the country.
The observed temperature across Pakistan in different regions was above 50 degrees Celsius (122F), and approximate deaths due to the heatwave were 65, including three children. In the phenomenon of immense temperature, many videos circulated on children’s social media went into a state of unconsciousness in schools.
Now, Pakistan is facing smog. The government recently imposed four-day sanctions on the daily routine of markets and parks to mitigate it. Furthermore, authorities shut down schools, colleges, and universities for a few days to combat this problem and protect students’ health. UAE blessed Pakistan with the gift of artificial rain, which would, according to experts, diminish the quantity of smog and improve the air quality. The hopes are there.
The horrors of climate change are yet to be seen. During the recent floods, the traumatic condition of Sindh, Balochistan, and some places in Southern Punjab was a veneer of what climate crisis could do. Women, among other marginalized populations, faced a lot: the health factor, displacement hardships, and more open to extremities of catastrophic conditions. Even with the pace and scale to counter the crisis, the restoration of the ecological system, and the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHS), we still need to combat the issue. The compounded factor of governmental inability to deal with the crisis and global disunity has increased the tension.
Addressing climate change is a technical matter requiring expertise and tons of fieldwork. Pakistan needs diverse, resilient policies to combat the crisis hand in hand, such as using the idea of green capitalism – the establishment of consumerism based on an ecologically friendly perception. On the grassroots level, we need to establish the concepts of eco-consumerism and eco-piety to manage the industrial-led and human activities that contribute toward the deterioration of climate.
Pakistan needs community-based solutions to climate problems and strong capacity-building campaigns on different climate issues. It is necessary to involve those indigenous communities who have become victims of these disastrous situations. Resilient solutions, public involvement policies, and a community-centric approach can diminish the threats of the climate crisis and provide a safeguard to deal with it.
