- By: Muhammad Zain & Muhammad Irfan, Lahore
In view of the current global environmental turmoil and intermittent El Nino effect culminating into unexpected climate change for which the major developed countries are largely responsible with Pakistan emitting only one per cent carbon into the ozone layer, the developing countries like us are badly suffering. On our part, without active engagement for our environmental sustainability, it has become extremely important to take this seriously for our very survival.
No doubt Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol are in place at the policy level but these are of a medium- and- long-term nature and may take up to 50 years to be fully implemented for real effect. Even if these are made mandatory for all the countries, the ozone layer may take another 50 years to repair itself.
Additionally, this global warming and climate change is causing premature melting of ice in the glaciers in the northern mountains resulting in excessive flows of water now and no water after about 30 to 40 years. Drought, heat waves and uncontrolled forest fires at a massive scale, tidal waves, cyclones etc., are yet another phenomenon being observed in Canada, US, Europe, China, Indo-Pak Subcontinent and even Far East to some extent. This is quite alarming and terrifying for the worst effected country like us. The catastrophic effects of snow melt in Antarctica are already being studied by the scientists.
In the meantime, what can we do in Pakistan to mitigate the adverse effects of major disasters like floods, untimely sudden rains with hail storms, cloud bursts which badly damage our crops and property, and also destroy our infrastructure. The clear example is that of vast areas of our most productive land in our province of Sindh which are still under water after heavy rains and floods caused by climate change during last year which also badly effected southern Punjab, and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Chitral. The people whose lives were very badly affected by these rains and floods were about 3.3 million.