Start discussing environmental issues with someone who is not part of the subject and the discussion is usually going to end with the statement that we have far worse issues to deal with and giving priority to environmental issues is the problem of the first world. This is far from the truth. In fact climate change is a human rights issue and it is time that we own it. According to German Watch Climate Risk Index 2015, Pakistan is the 6th most affected county by climate change.
Following five major risks related to climate change have been listed in a World Bank report:
- Rise in sea level
- Glacial retreats
- Floods
- Higher average temperature
- Higher frequency of droughts
Unfortunately Pakistan faces all these risks first hand. Recent reports are suggesting that with the current rate of increase in sea levels, Karachi would be completely submerged by 2060. Last year was declared the hottest year, breaking all previous records. Not to forget the massive floods and droughts that the country has seen in recent years.
The consecutive floods that hit Pakistan in 2010 and 2011 have been termed more serious humanitarian disasters than South Asian tsunami and earthquake in Kashmir and Haiti. One-fifth of the country was swamped by these floods affecting 18 million people. The death toll touched 1,985.
