Climate change, melting of glaciers & burning of Margalla hills – The story of Pakistan
Climate change has been clearly observed all around the world since last many decades. Particularly in Pakistan, we have observed in the shape of the rapid melting of the glaciers and a huge fire in the forests of Margalla hills. Things are turning so rapidly that experts have now turned a red alarm for every single entity in the world to take appropriate measures.
The industrial revolution and urbanization around the world have brought many changes in our environmental system. The environmental factors play a vital role in economic and social development, especially for developing countries like Pakistan. Not only the developing countries, but climate change has turned to be focused on all the countries around the globe. According to the recent climate change affected countries, Pakistan is among the top 10 countries of the world who are severely affected by the climate changes. A country cannot achieve sustainable development in economic and social grounds if environmental degradation goes unabated.
According to NASA, climate change can be defined as “a change can be defined weather of a region or city. This could be a change in a regions average annual rainfall, for example, or it could be a change in a cities average temperature for a given month or season. Climate change is also a change in piles of earth overall climate ’’
There are two reasons for which climate change took place.
- Natural phenomenon
- Other is through unnatural means
Some warming up the earth comes in the orbit of a natural process. While unnatural reasons are global warming and environmental degradation caused by humans. Just like the increase in the greenhouse gases due to increase in the CO2 and other such gases which affects the ozone layer (O3) is one of the causes of global warming and increment in the temperature of the earth.
Pakistan is among the most affected countries of climate change and global warming in the globe. Though, the country is not among the higher producers of the burning of the fossil fuel and producers of the greenhouse gases. People and the experts have experienced the oceans rising of sea level, melting of glaciers, less or heavy rainfall, floods, droughts, burning of the Margalla hills and extreme heatwaves all around the country.
The UN Environment Program (UNEP) issued a report “vital water graphics,” according to this report, Pakistan uses 75% water for agriculture and 5% for domestic consumption. The glaciers which pour down in the Indus basin are melting due to an increase in global temperature and climate change. There are 18,495 glaciers which are a source of Indus water. This rapid reduction will disappear glaciers by the year 2035. Which means there will be a shortage of water for the consumption of agricultural and even for the pure and easy availability of the drinking water for most of the areas of the country.
As we know that Pakistan is an agricultural country and depends on the water of Indus and rainfall for this purpose. But because of the climate change, the weather, monsoon timing and temperature has changed the timing and even duration. The people who only depend on the agriculture are found to be in a grieving loss as they often found their crops being affected by the rainfall, temperature, or such unwanted disastrous which are the result of the climate change and global warming.
Due to this change cultivation of various crops and production is affected. According to an economic survey of Pakistan, Gross Domestic Product (GOP) as accounting agriculture contributes 20% of the GDP. On the agriculture sector, 60% of the rural population depends on livelihood. It produces 45% of employment opportunities based on agriculture. During 2011-2015 the 70% irrigated is decreased in the total area of Pakistan. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects have been designed to aim to invest 35 billion dollars for the construction of dams and coal-based powerhouses, so that to reserve the water, and can produce energy without hurting much to the environment and climate.
Thus, to get control of climate change, it is the duty of every individual to plant trees around their residencies. To get rid of the use of plastic, it is our duty to plan and implement constructive campaigns to completely stop the use of plastics. To control the climate change, it is obligatory for every individual to speak to the governing bodies of the country to strengthen the available forests and to plant new trees all around the country. This is how Pakistan and the rest of the globe could be saved from the destruction. This is about our generations, this is about the people, the humanitarians. Let’s save the world!
Note: The author was supervised By Mr Farhan Ali Soomro (PhD Scholar) & Teaching Assistant Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur.
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