Pakistan could be in for a sharp rise in average temperatures and extremely erratic weather.It was opined in a seminar.The seminar, analysed data in a new report produced by top non-government organisations, LEAD-Pakistan and the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan, with funding from the European Union.
Data from 56 meteorological stations showed heat waves increasing from 1980 to 2009, a period marked by glacier retreats, steadily rising average temperature in the Indus delta and changes in temperature behaviour in summer and winter.
The report, forecasts low agricultural productivity from lack of water for irrigation and erratic rainfall. It says that conditions in the fertile Indus delta, already facing saline water intrusion and coastal erosion, are expected to deteriorate further.
Pakistan’s largely agrarian economy, is mainly fed by the Hindu Kush-Karakoram and Himalayan glaciers that are reported receding due to global warming. Its economy now faces larger risks from variability in monsoon rains, floods and extended droughts, according to the report.
Links and Sources: