Climate change in Pakistan
[1] In addition to increased heat, drought and extreme weather in parts of the country, the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas has impacted some of the important rivers of Pakistan.
[3] Pakistan is prone to a range of natural disasters, including cyclones, floods, drought, intense rainfall, and earthquakes.
According to scientific research, climate change played a substantial role in the devastating floods of 2022, which had a direct impact on over 30 million people in Pakistan, resulting in the loss of lives, damage to public infrastructure, and displacement from homes.
[8] Nitrous oxide is mainly from agricultural soils due to the application of synthetic fertilizers, farmyard manure, and crop residue mixes after burning.
that stricter measures against air pollution in Pakistan might include actions that would also limit GHG emissions, such as increasing tax on motor fuels.
[13] In 2022 Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said that more solar, wind and hydropower should be built to reduce the fossil fuel import bill.
Moreover, the effects of climate change have intensified heatwaves, leading to catastrophic floods that was reported that it claims the lives of more than 1,100 and 33 million were affected.
[15] A prevailing sentiment of injustice permeates the nation as Pakistan, despite contributing less than 1% of global greenhouse gases, finds itself disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to its geographical circumstances.
[21] The climate change projections of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report for South Asia as a whole suggest that heatwaves and humid heat stress will be more intense and frequent; and that both annual and summer monsoon rainfall will increase, with more variation by year.
[28] Sea level rise along the Karachi coast is estimated at 1.1 mm per year (mm/year) for the period 1856–2000 according to the National Institute of Oceanography, Pakistan.
[30] This change in sea level is thought to be due to two major processes, the thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of glacier mass.
This SLR will most likely affect low-lying coastal areas south of Karachi toward Keti Bander and Indus River delta more than other regions of Pakistan.
According to an NGO head, 3 million acres of land containing many villages have been submerged in the coastal areas of the districts Thatta, Badin and Sajawal over the past 40 years.
[33] The poverty rate of Pakistan, when estimated at $2 per day purchasing power parity, exceeds 50% of the total population with stark provincial disparities.
The impact of climate change has the potential to initiate extensive and potent negative feedback loops that affect both livelihoods and public health.
These concurrent trends serve as possible factors that may drive climate-induced migration from rural regions to urban hubs as people in Pakistan search for employment and more stable living conditions.
[27] In 2024, it was reported that Pakistan has faced an orange shortage due to climate change, which has reduced citrus production by 35%, slashed exports, and led to the closure of processing factories.
[41] Due to extreme weather and uncertain economic outcomes, rural communities in Pakistan have been displaced in large numbers to major cities.
Larger estimates, including major displacements because of extreme weather, suggest as many as 20 million migrants from rural to urban communities since 2010.
