ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is going to see severe droughts and flooding in thenext few years thanks to the rapidly changing climate conditions and globalwarming. Environmental experts are asking for an aggressive plantationdrive to avoid the looming catastrophe.
According to an esteemed environmentalist, Kashif Mehmood Salik, thecountry needs to increase its green cover to prevent adverse climate changeeffects.
He noted that in recent years, Karachi has been receiving swelteringsummers, killing at least 60 people last year.
If preventive measures not taken timely, more and more cities could faceKarachi-like heat waves in the coming years.
The Global Climate Risk-Index report released by the ‘German Watch,’ hasranked Pakistan among the top 10 countries in the world to be primarilyaffected by climate change.
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Kashif said that with every passing year, the country is expecting anincrease in temperature due to its geographical location. He says thatrapid deforestation is adding fuel to the fire.As per the Punjab Forest Department, the country is losing 27,000 hectaresto deforestation every year, while the total area under forest cover hasshrunk to 4.4 million hectares.
As per the Pakistan Meteorological Department, large-scale tree felling hasdisturbed the climate change pattern in the country, due to which variousregions have been experiencing extreme weather conditions for the last fewyears.
Another expert, Mehmood Khalid Qamar, mentioned that deforestation andeco-degradation is accelerating at a fast pace, which has caused atemperature rise.
