Climate change challenge

Everyone seems to be complaining these days, whether you are in a wedding party or any other gathering for that matter, the talk always turns to what we do not have and how fortunate are others in either neighboring countries or in lands far away.

The list of privileges includes better supply of essentials like water and power and of course transportation. Once the critics get going, it is as if our beloved Pakistan is living in the cave age while everyone else is enjoying life as if living in a paradise.

This is not exactly right and with the limited resources that this country had and the cluster of enemies always on its tail, it has transformed for the better in many ways and especially in terms of many of the facilities enjoyed by the more developed countries.

If there was any doubt that other countries face similar problems it has been removed by the sudden impact of climate change which has tested all countries and found most of them wanting in many spheres including how to cope with rain and storms whose might and fury knows no bounds as they appear without warning and destroy everything in their path with impunity.

Nothing and nobody in the world has failed in their duties or obligations. If anything, the concerned people around the globe have either refused to read the writing on the wall regarding this drastic climate change or understood its implication rather late in the day.

The entire infrastructure around the world, be it in Europe, the USA, Canada or the subcontinent was built to sustain and handle only a certain amount of rain, wind and snow. I know scientists were warning that it was inadequate and we need to take steps to slow down the changes that will increase the tempo of our weather to limitless extremes but I am sure no one in their wildest dreams could imagine the ferocity of weather that was getting ready to unleash itself on an unsuspecting world. Here are some examples.

Unending heavy rains led to widespread flooding in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany. The floods caused extensive transport disruption, with long-distance rail routes to Munich from the north and west out of action.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? It could be our own Kotri or Jungshahi cut off by floods which were sudden and whose sudden disruption of our railway infrastructure unannounced, leaving no time to be prepared. There is also the danger of sudden landslides which as the weather changes are now nearly a daily occurrence in different parts of our country.

This leads to tourists trapped in holiday resorts and long lines of trucks whose cargo in many cases rots due to the extraordinary delay but all this is miniscule considering the happenings around the world. Do you have any idea how many landslides happen each year? 400,000 significant rainfall-triggered landslides occur globally per year.

The average annual number of significant earthquake-triggered landslides is estimated to be in the order of 130,000. All these are sudden and in most cases without warning killing hundreds of people. Between 1998-2017, landslides affected an estimated 4.8 million people and caused more than 18 000 deaths.

Climate change leading to rising temperatures is expected to trigger more landslides, especially in mountainous areas with snow and ice and in the cities rising temperatures are giving rise to fatalities especially amongst the old and frail in society.

Let us face it. Climate change is a threat which is not to be taken lightly and should not be used for point scoring by anyone. Devastated villages, flooded cities, inadequate water drainage systems, weak infrastructure crumbling before the might of winds whose speeds are unprecedented and unpredicted and all this defying all predictions needs serious contemplation, planning and serious attempts to stop this from becoming more lethal and more frequent.

Pakistan unfortunately is within the most affected countries and everyone should sit together and plan an effective response. Let us face the challenge together as a nation .Pointing fingers in this situation and avoiding unity of action can have disastrous consequences. We all know the climate will only get worse not better and the only way to respond is to unite and work together on a plan to save ourselves from the coming disaster.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024