Climate change comprises one of the 21st century’s main obstacles to the development around the world. In the current scenario, global warming and climate change have become issues of global significance. It is evidenced by the plethora of campaigns, conferences, researches and reports on the subject matter. Climate change is a long-standing quantifiable change in the components of the climate tending towards the severe.
In spite of a few dubious views, there exists a prevalent consensus among scientists that climate change is occurring and is being determined by the indefensible actions of mankind, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, industrial pollution and land use. Consequently many authors frequently describe the climate change basically as the anthropogenic modification of the climate system globally through the amplified concentration of greenhouse gases in the environment leading to the global warming. The available scientific research depicts that the earth observed on average global warming of around about 0.6 degree centigrade during the 20th century and is forecasted to heat up by approximately 2 to 3 degree centigrade by the end of the 21st century.
The observations of local and seasonal variations in various parts of the world depicted both high rain or precipitation localities and the seasons have recorded increases in precipitation and certain regions becoming wetter whereas other regions displaying low rainfall and have recorded seasons with gradually decreasing precipitation which are thus becoming drier. The change in the intensity and frequency of monsoon rainfalls are positively associated with the increase in water-induced catastrophes such as floods and landslides.
Although there is awareness of changing climate patterns, most people in Asia are predominantly misinformed about the change in global weather. This is due to the restriction on awareness campaigns and since most Asian countries face problems regarding poverty acceleration and political conflicts, climate change is never seen as a priority.
Similar to most Asian countries, the bulk of Pakistan’s population is largely uninformed about climate change but rather is alarmed by food insecurity and floods in the country. Climate change is a supplementary strain for our country. According to the findings of a recently published index, our country has been ranked as the 12th number on the list of nations most susceptible to the influences of the climate change. However, the government of Pakistan is alert of and concerned regarding the climate change as an issue in the development of the country. As such the government has established the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC) in 2002 in order to evaluate the recent and projected future trends regarding climate change, worldwide as well as in Pakistan. This centre is also responsible for evaluating the effects on the main socio-economic sectors in the country along with raising public awareness regarding climate change in the country.
Written by: Manan Aslam, Abdul Ghafoor and Shafqat Rasool
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