Despite the
writing on the wall, many still cling on to their consistency and keep denying
that our environmental issues are part of a vicious cycle of issues. Issues
that won’t go away, returning time and again with a vengeance fueled by our
arrogant ignorance.
Pakistan is
ranked as one of the top ten countries most affected by climate change. The
‘affect’ is not a hypothetical scenario in the distant future. It is our
present that can feel the impact and much more in store for the near future, if
we continue at this pace.
Our agri
based economy is at the front line. The backbone of Pakistan’s economy is made
of agriculture, contributing 21% to the GDP. Climate change has a direct
impact, from lowered yields to a drastic change in the overall cropping
patterns. As estimated loss of 30% in production is expected in the coming
years. For anyone with even the basic knowledge of how agriculture production
works, the recent disturbed patterns of rain should be a sign enough to start
considering climate change and related environmental issues a considerable
problem.
The buck
doesn’t stop at agriculture. Climate change affects the determinants of the
rest of the food cycle, health and even the social fabric.
Globally, each
of the last three decades has been successively warmer than the preceding one,
since 1850. From the last few years we have been breaking the wrong kind of
record, with each passing year being declared as the hottest year so far,
further accelerating the problems.
As per a
recent report of WHO, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000
additional deaths per year due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat
stress between 2030 and 20150. These are ailments that we have already found
remedies for, however, their climate change induced intensity is still capable
of creating havoc. This is something that we have witnessed in Pakistan. The
consecutive monsoon floods of 2014, 2015 and 2016 are a permanent fixture of
our memories. Zahid Hamid, Minister for Law & justice & climate change
in March 2017 shared with a senate session that these floods affected a total
of 4.5 million people and claimed 1,029 lives.
