Climate changes are the big issues nowadays. Many countries are facing this issue and a number of countries are vandalized by the effects of climate changes. Before going into any discussion, we have to figure out the concept of climate changes. So, first of all, what is climate change? Climate change is the change in weather pattern in a specific region because of the change in earth’s climate system, and it remains for an extended period of time. The change in weather pattern may remain for a short period of time such as for a decade and may also remain for a long period of time such as for millions of years. There are many causes of climate change, but the rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide is one of its causes. Climate change also disturbs the socio and political environment. Climate changes have a number of effects and we will discuss some of its effects and their solutions.
You will be astonished when you will know the fact that Pakistan is one of the countries that are in a very vulnerable situation because of the problem of climate change. According to the climate change index, Pakistan is the 8th most affected country that is affected from climate change from the year of 1998 to 2017. Because of climate change we had lost almost 10,248 lives. Climate changes also have a security threat in Pakistan. The scarcity in water is because of climate changes and if we consider it in terms of Pakistan’s context, water issue quickly becomes a food issue. So, problem of climate change should be considered as a severe non-security traditional threat, and if we ignore our non-traditional dimensions of security, it will lead to make our country less secure. We are also facing an extreme intensity of weather events that leads to floods and droughts.
We need to provide a great attention on the adaptation of climate change. Adaptation means that what can be the possible solutions to solve a problem. So, first need to identify the problems. We have severe problems like heat waves, floods, melting glaciers, drought and famine. These problems are causing major health and crops issues. As we observed that this June is recorded as the hottest month in the last few years. The unusual rain and heat waves had a great affect on crops. This is because we have to face the unusual rain at the time of harvesting the crops. Also, people are dying because of the extra-ordinary heat, and the smog we are facing every year affect the health of the people. Flood and storm not only increase the death ratios and injuries but also have some health problems like diarrheal disease because of insufficient available water for daily routine work or for drink. They also lead to psychological problems, for an example depression is one of the serious mental health issues. Also leads to some severe diseases like malaria and dengue fever which are sensitive to temperature and rainfall, are increased due to change in climate, but still we are unable to understand the dark aspect of climate changes.
The question is how we can tackle these issues. First of all, it is better to discuss what we have done so far. The ethical formation is that we have planted billions of trees in KP, and we are panting more than 10 billion trees in Tsunami Project. That seems like a good news, but can we consider it enough for our society, answer is no. First of all, this project has not completed yet. Moreover, tree needs a proper time for their growth and they take time to show their positive effects in the environment. Also, all the trees do not have fast growth ratio as well as do not suitable for underground water table. So, this is not good enough in the front of our destructive issue. Moreover, the government should take these issues seriously. For an example, the government should ban one time use plastic which includes straws, food boxes and disposable cups. This is because they have a direct relation with global heating as a lot of energy is consumed at the time of their production. We can use their alternatives which will help a lot in these cases. For an example, rather than using one time use plastic, we can use high density polyethylene.
Technology can help to mitigate the impact of climate changes, but as we know, Pakistan is in the list of poorest countries, so they do not have much capacity to pay for the technology. Use of Local Technology can help in this case. We should promote the use of local technology to mitigate the effects of climate changes. We have a lack of detailed analysis about wind and solar sites in Pakistan, so government should need to pay a great attention on this issue. The government should oversea technological breakthrough to control the potential of geothermal energy in the northern mountain areas of Pakistan. Also, the government need to explore new technological breakthrough related to bio-fuels. The government should develop a technology transfer base in technical institutes, colleges and universities. In short, climate change is a grave issue not only for our generation but for the next generation, the government should take a step to mitigate the effects of climate change for the bright future of Pakistan.