Revenge of climate change
Engr Sabir Hussain
The planet earth is surrounded by natural blanket of heat trapping gases. These natural gases around the earth makes the life possible on this planet and keeps the globe temperature almost 30 degrees Celsius warmer that it would be otherwise. Moreover, without this blanket of gases there would be no life on earth and this planet would be like a frozen ice ball. The sun energy shines on earth and heats the earth. When the earth is heated up the extra heat is given off back to space due to these natural gases. These natural gases include carbon dioxide, combined with methane, water vapors and some other gases which keeps the temperature of earth perfect.
Since the industrial revolution, this blanket of natural gases is continuously in trouble by adding extra amount of carbon dioxide that mean we are adding unnecessary carbon dioxide blanket around the earth which it does not need. The carbon in fossil fuel combines with oxygen during the process of combustion produces carbon dioxide which is a very powerful heat trapping gas. In addition, the amount of carbon dioxide is dramatically increased since the start of industrial revolution.
Many people confuse global warming and climate change. Global warming refers to recent current temperature of the earth that began in industrial revolution while climate change refers to the effects of global warming the earth is facing in the form of rising sea level, melting glaciers, heat waves, sever raining, droughts, wildfire, shift in flowers and plants blooming timings. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that in the 20 years after 2030, climate change will cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that one of the main threats to humans as a result of climate change is food insecurity.
Pakistan has received over 60 percent of its total normal monsoon rainfall in just three weeks since the start of the monsoon season in July due to climate change. Heavy rains have resulted in urban and flash floods, landslides, and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) across the country, particularly affecting Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh provinces. The recent flood in various parts of the country have drastically damaged the numbers of areas across the country and in a result many people lost their lives, homes and businesses.
According to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) report, 7 million people affected by the recent flood due to monsoon raining in Pakistan which resulted in 530 deaths (including 199 children and 108 women) and 604 people had been injured since 14th June, 2022. More than 42,000 houses have been either fully or partially damaged, while 56,097 hectares of crop area are damaged and over 10,000 people are displaced. Furthermore, nearly 23,000 people have reportedly been displaced from their homes and some 107,000 livestock have perished.
The climate change is real and the nature takes its revenge. We face the revenge of global warming in the form of disaster across the country every year. Government policies to reduce carbon emissions and grow more trees to lower the carbon footprint is the ultimate solution to overcome this alarming situations, otherwise the revenge of climate change can be even more sever in coming years.
The writer is a satellite engineer by profession. He did BSc Electrical Engineering (Telecom) from the COMSATS University, Lahore Campus and MPhil in Space Science from the University of Panjab, Lahore. He can be contacted at: engineersabirhussain14@gmail.com.
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