For ‘Whom the Bell Tolls’ by Donne prewarned the mankind that dangers and threats are inclusive. And we are seeing how the globe is spinning away faster but not fast enough to escape the impending doom of climate change.
According to reports appearing in the press and as shown on TV almost the whole of Europe and parts of the USA are in the grip of a heatwave unprecedented in history.
A quick switch of channels takes you from a wildfire in Spain and high temperatures in different parts of Europe (claiming lives as the continent sizzles in temperatures crossing 40C), to wildfires in Spain’s Catalonia region claiming the lives of two farmers, and to strange accidents across.
The recent case of family drowning is Swat River went viral across screens, reflecting strongly on the adversity that can be unleashed without notice.
Beaches that provided hours of entertainment and enjoyable moments in the past have become death traps, as in Italy, two men died after becoming unwell on beaches on the island of Sardinia, another man in his 80s died of heart failure, after walking into a hospital in Genoa.
Even teenagers are not safe as a 10-year-old American girl collapsed and died while visiting the Palace of Versailles in the south-west of Paris, according to reports. It was perhaps this incident that prompted the authorities in Paris to close visits to the Eifel Tower for two whole days.
Amazing isn’t it how global warming, which was once a distant threat, has now struck with full force not only heating our planet to dangerous levels but also producing weather changes like sudden storms with gale force winds and unprecedented amounts of rain.
A stark example of the latest in this sordid saga is the sudden flood in Texas, the USA, in which a river burst its banks due to intense and unprecedented rains in the middle of the night raising the height of water to 10 meters within a few minutes. More than 20 bodies were recovered and another twenty, including young girls at a summer camp, are still missing.
All these are the effects of global warming which was not too long ago just a buzz-word not taken seriously but now impacting the world and even our own Pakistan where temperatures hovering around and even surpassing 40 degrees is a daily occurrence in different parts of the country, including the seaside city of Karachi that used to be cool in the hottest of days.
In fact, Karachi is among the cities greatly affected by climate change because Pakistan is among the countries highly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, which includes rising temperatures and extreme weather events. The tragedy is that despite Pakistan’s relatively low contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, it is disproportionately affected by climate change impacts.
Pakistan has put up its case at various international forums seeking support as a victim of climate change for which it has little or no responsibility. So far there has been little or no response to the requests and Pakistan is tackling this problem on its own.
The solution, of course, lies in reimagining progress itself.
We must build an infrastructure that prioritizes climate sustainability at every level, integrating environmental considerations into all aspects of development and growth. Fortunately, today’s technological advances offer unprecedented opportunities to combat climate change’s adverse effects.
From renewable energy systems to carbon capture technologies, we possess tools that previous generations could only dream of. We need a comprehensive approach to “greening” our planet. This means establishing mandatory protections for both existing wilderness areas and newly designated urban forest reserves. Cities must become carbon sinks rather than carbon sources, with green corridors connecting urban and rural ecosystems.
Equally critical is addressing industrial pollution at its source. Rather than allowing emissions to freely disperse into the atmosphere, we can implement systems that capture, funnel, and treat all industrial discharge. This includes both visible pollutants and invisible greenhouse gases that continue to cloud not only our skies but our collective judgment about the severity of this crisis.
The rate is fast, unprecedented and catastrophic. The finance required to meet the challenge must make world leaders sit up to take notice and put all other issues on the back burner to tackle this as a priority.
For now glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world, this includes the Alps, Andes, Rockies, Himalayas, Karakoram, and almost all the sky grazing mountain ranges, sea levels have risen about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century, and temperatures are soaring.
As mankind ignores warnings from weather the intensity of change keeps wreaking havoc. When mankind will wake up to the reality that is climate change is a question that oscillates between debates, COPs, and Ted Talks. While we desperately need an answer, it already seems too late.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a well-known columnist