According to media reports, the impacts of climate change and global warming are likely to be severe, pervasive and irreversible.
This has been warned in a report of the U.N prepared by scientists and officials meeting in Japan.
Mankind and its activities are adversely affecting the planet.
Many of the impacts of humanity’s polluting activities can no longer be reversed.
As pointed above, in Japan recently, a report released by the UN’s Inter-govern- mental Panel on climate change blamed human interference for climate change.
The effects of which are already occurring on world as nobody on this planet is going to be untouched. Some impacts of climate change include a higher risk of flooding and changes to crop yields and water availability.
Humans may be able to adapt to some of these changes, but only within limits.
Natural systems are currently bearing the brunt of climate changes, but a growing impact on humans is feared. Members of the UN’s climate panel say it provides over whelming evidence of the scale of these effects.
The health, homes, food and safety of humans are all likely to be threatened by rising temperatures.
While it is the developed world that has contributed most to the global warming through polluting activities, it is the world’s poorest population that will suffer the most from rising temperatures and rising seas.
The smaller, underdeveloped countries, such as Pakistan, need to start formulating plans.
It merits a mention that this country is not adequately equipped to handle flooding: food scarcity is already a growing problem and glacier melt is a reality.
These issues will only intensify in the years to come.
The world as a whole needs to think green, countries that are especially vulnerable, need to square up to the challenge.
It merits a mention that some 500 scientists and government officials had been gathered in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan in the last week of March to hammer its wording.
A leaked draft of the report warned that rising green house gas emissions would significantly boost the risk of floods, while droughts would suck many sustainable water supplies.
Also, a large fraction of land and fresh water species may risk extinction and a warming climate is projected to reduce wheat, rice and corn yields.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of coastal dwellers around the world would be displaced by the year 2100, the draft said while the competition for dwindling resources could even spark violent conflicts.
Climate change has becoming a threat to Pakistan. Also, increasing population and decreasing resources may pose threat to our future generations.
According to media reports, the country will be facing severe water crises in coming years. In most parts of the urban areas, already the residents complain of water shortage, especially in summers.
This situation will extend to the agriculture sector, the backbone of the country’s economy. According to United Nations, Pakistan is now gradually slipping down the water scarcity level and is among those countries which will face water crisis in coming years.
This situation will further aggravate with the impact of climate change to which Pakistan is again among the most vulnerable countries.
In view of the above, it is need of the hour to conserve our water resources, promote prudent practices, build new water reservoirs, exploit modern technology and explore new resources of water.
Also the country has to take a lot of efforts and financial compromises to deal with the impact of climate change.
It has become extremely important for the Government to invest in sustainable agriculture and small scale farmers, promoting the use of drought resistance varieties, alternate farming practices and reduced cultivation of water intensive crops in the circumstances of water scarcity and building dams and reservoirs for water storage and mitigating the changes of devastating floods.
By Khan Faraz