ISLAMABAD: Around 200 countries and territories including Pakistan gave their approval to a significant UN climate change report, which is a major global development on scientific research on climate change.

This was the crux of an interaction of climate experts at the National Press Club, here on Friday.

One of the climate experts, Khan Faraz from Peshawar informed media that the most crucial part of the report is its “Summary for policymakers” that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reviewed in detail.

This is a 40-page gist of years of scientific research that highlights the dangers of climate change resulting in species extinction and the near-collapse of the ecosystem.

This environmental degradation is also resulting in extreme weather conditions and new types of diseases.

There is a question of rapidly declining fresh-water resources including lakes and ponds that are drying up. Reduced water supplies and contamination in soil badly affect crop yields that are much lower in quality and quantity now in many parts of the world especially in developing countries. This reduction is a direct corollary of global heating across continents.

To compound the problem, there are unprecedented floods that turn out to be harmful for crops and soil and also result in increased water-logging in the affected areas.

On the other extreme are wildfires that devour thousands of square kilometres of land and burn standing crops and forests without discrimination.

These cascades of floods and heat waves and wildfires have been wreaking havoc year after year in the past couple of decades, Faraz maintained.

There is a pretty strong case for accelerating efforts to fight carbon pollution that is a driving force behind climate change.

Also, there are already many other devastating consequences that can no longer be reversed and there is a need to devise a strategy for adaptation, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022