PAKISTAN: UPDATED NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS 2021
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CLIMATE CHALLENGE POSES FOLLOWING TWO CONCURRENT
CHALLENGES TO PAKISTAN:
3.2. CLIMATIC IMPACT-DRIVERS (CIDS)
Slow-onset of Climate Change in Pakistan is reflected in changing weather patterns, particularly
variations in precipitation and temperatures, glacial melt, sea level rise, loss of biodiversity,
desertification and droughts. While Pakistan has experienced—on average—a 0.76 #C rise in
temperature, in some regions, the temperature increase has been higher than the national and
global averages. The monsoon has begun to touch the upper reaches of the mountain regions
including Chitral and Swat that are traditionally not in the monsoon range. Easterly winds
from the Arabian Sea visit Balochistan more frequently with torrential rains. The increased
temperatures and changes in precipitation have adversely affected the physical environment,
weakened the carrying capacity of ecosystems, and increased the exposure to climate-
induced disasters in both urban and rural settings. Since most of the poorest people live on
marginal lands and in fragile ecosystems, they are often least prepared to manage multi-tiered
challenges, or further increase in CIDs, as defined and analyzed in the Inter-governmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report.
In upper Indus Basin, the CIDs are manifested in reduced snowfall and snowfall periods and
increasing rains and decreasing glaciers, resulting in GLOFs. At the coastal belts of Balochistan
and Sindh, the CIDs are observed in increased frequency and severity of tropical storms,
coastal rains, and seawater intrusion. In the planes of Punjab and Sindh, CIDs manifest in
extended and frequent riverine floods, heatwaves relevant to agriculture and health, coupled
with increased aridity in arid and semi-arid regions of Balochistan, Sindh, and parts of Punjab.
This is expected to accelerate as the temperatures cross the 1.5°C threshold. The degrading
ecosystems have been costly for human health, adversely impacted water-agriculture, and
the reduced productivity of ecosystems. These elements are important to understand the
country’s climate vulnerability and its long-term threats and contextualize adaptation and
mitigation needs and measures. Finally, these gradual decadal processes are rapidly settling
in, and in effect also cause sudden and abrupt extreme events, incurring immediate as well as
long-term Loss and Damage (L&D).
3.3. COMPOUND EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS
The frequency and intensity of floods, heatwaves, landslides, and tropical storms has exposed
a very high percentage of Pakistan’s population to climate risks and rendered them vulnerable.
Given high diversity of ecosystems in the country, compound extreme weather events, or a
combination of their drivers and hazards are contributing to societal and environmental risks.
Concurrent extreme events at multiple locations have become more frequent including in high
latitude mountain areas of Karakoram, Hindukush, and Himalayas mountain ranges, as well as
food producing agricultural areas. Communities and local populations have long observed and
endured concurrent extreme events at different locations, often well before their validation by
the scientists. Most frequent compound extreme events are heatwaves and droughts in parts
of Balochistan and Sindh. Summer temperatures in the city of Jacobabad in Pakistan‘s Sindh