At Dawood Global Foundation, we are continuously working towards educating people more and more about Climate Change and its effects on our lives and the things we should do to fight against these changes. Recently a report was issued which explains the effects of climate change in South Asia.
The report, ‘South Asia’s Hotspots: The Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes’, has alarmed that changes in average weather in South Asia are projected to have overall negative impacts on living standards in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The region is recognised as being very vulnerable to climate change. Its varied geography combines with regional circulation patterns to create a diverse climate.
In Pakistan, analysis of the report reveals that expanding electrification by 30pc could reduce the impact of average weather on living standards from a negative 2.9pc to negative 2.5pc.
Thus, electrification alone may not completely overcome the adverse effects of changes in average weather on living standards. This indicates that additional inspection could be warranted to better understand how to prevent the emergence of hotspots within the country.
The glaciated northern parts - the Himalayas, Karakoram, and the Hindu Kush mountains - have annual average temperatures at or below freezing, whereas much of the Indian subcontinent averages 25°C to 30°C. Both the hot and cold extremes are challenging for human well-being, and climate change heightens these challenges.
Average annual temperatures in many parts of South Asia have increased significantly in recent decades, but unevenly. Western Afghanistan and southwestern Pakistan have experienced the largest increases, with annual average temperatures rising by 1°C to 3°C from 1950 to 2010.
The scientific literature suggests that such events will grow in intensity over the coming decades. Dhaka, Karachi, Kolkata, and Mumbai – metropolitan areas that are home to more than 50 million people - face a substantial risk of flood-related damage over the next century.
In India and Pakistan, water-stressed areas will be more adversely affected compared to the national average.
While negative impacts are sizable under the climate scenarios of ‘climate-sensitive’ and ‘carbon-sensitive’, they are more severe under the carbon-intensive scenario. Both show rising temperatures throughout the region in the coming decades, with the carbon-intensive scenario leading to greater increases. Expected changes in rainfall patterns are more complex in both, the report says.
By 2050, under the carbon-intensive scenario, the declines are projected to be 6.7pc for Bangladesh, 2.8pc for India, 2.9pc for Pakistan, and 7pc for Sri Lanka.
unlike sea-level rise and extreme weather events, changes in average weather will affect inland areas the most. For most countries, changes in average weather will also reduce growth of their GDP per capita, compared to what it would be under present climate conditions. The GDP losses are greater for severe hotspot regions.
Keeping all of this in mind, we believe there is more and more need to fight towards climate change and each one of us will have to pay our part and all you need to do is to plant a tree or support or help others to plant trees as that is not to secure the future of our next generation anymore, in fact it is to secure our generation.
We are playing our part in the society by planting more and more trees, and we would like to thank all the wonderful donors and supporters to make it possible for us.