Govt urged to focus on climate change
LAHORE – Karachi is facing severe change in weather patterns that caused inconsistent and asymmetrical amounts of rainfall in the city.
The government authorities need to conduct in-depth study of the impact of climate change as the country does not have any reliable data. Pakistan has become vulnerable to the inevitable phenomenon of climate change.
This was stated by Prof Dr M Iqbal Choudhary, Director, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, while talking to a foreign delegate of scientists at Dr Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD).
“This year (2018) Karachi witnessed less amounts of rainfall as compared to the last year when the city received rain more than the usual amounts. Climate change is one of the most leading reasons causing this intensification to the city’s weather patterns,” he added.
Prof Iqbal Choudhary said that Pakistan was among the frontline states to battle the climate change impact, while Karachi was one of the most affected cities of the country. He pointed out that Pakistan has been ranked seventh among countries that are vulnerable to horrible effects of climate change.
He suggested the government to conduct in-depth study of the impact of climate change on Pakistan.
“Unfortunately, we do not have any reliable data and our understanding about what and how our country will be affected is very rudimentary,” he said.
He maintained that research was needed for future strategy to develop resilience against the climate change impact in the country. He pointed out that climate change adaptation was vital for developing countries like Pakistan but lack of awareness was one of the major barriers on this way.
He added that the country needs to further promote understanding about climate change among its masses as climate change impacts were getting worse in this disaster-prone country.
He said that extreme weather conditions, droughts, heavy rainfall, irregular floods, sea-level rise, glacier melting etc. are the results of climate change. Some national level issues including reduction of natural resources, scarcity of foods, water shortage are also associated with climate change in Pakistan, he maintained.
He said that the weather patterns around the world had been changed due to climate change, which is a result of human interference into the nature. He said that Karachi’s weather had become unpredictable as it was difficult for experts to forecast.
He said that deforestation and degradation of forest had become the real threat for the ecosystem of Pakistan as forests have a critical role to mitigate climate change.
Pakistan requires to struggle against the adverse and horrible impacts of climate change by promoting tree-plant culture in the country.
He underlined the significance of a national plan at the government level to mitigate environmental threats in the country.
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