climate change causes types global warming disasters

 

The gradual change over the years due to anthropogenic and natural reasons is called as climate change. Nowadays climate is a biggest threat to the world

what is climate change?

Over the years a slow but constant change has been observed in average atmospheric conditions. Which has worst effects on environment globally. This manifested in mounting global temperature, melting of glaciers and ice sheets, rising sea levels and surface temperatures, incoherent weather patterns, changing rain cycles, severe heat waves, changing crop patterns and depleting Ozone layer etc. it is largest threat to our planet which needs collective efforts of the world to get rid of this issue. Additionally, Pakistan is a developing country faces challenges to tackle this issue. According to global climate risk index report 2021 by think tank German watch says that Pakistan is the 5^th most vulnerable country due to climate change.

Causes of climate change

1.    Industrialization: Transformation of world from farming to industrial based economy which has increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the environment.

2.    Deforestation: cutting of forest land to make houses and industries

3.    Transportation: smoke of vehicles is great contributor to climate change.

4.    Urbanization: shift from rural to urban areas in the search of jobs

 

Disasters due to Climate Change Globally

Natural Disasters is one of the most important impact of the climate change on the globe. It is becoming increasingly clear that many disasters such as floods, storms, landslides and droughts are no longer purely natural, but are the most dramatic impacts of climate change caused by human activity. The world is now 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than in pre-industrial times. the last year alone has seen a series of devastating climate disasters in various parts of the world such as Cyclone, deadly heatwaves in India, Pakistan, and Europe, and flooding in south-east Asia. From Mozambique to Bangladesh millions of people have already lost their homes, livelihoods, and loved ones as a result of more dangerous and more frequent extreme weather events. 

The number of climate-related disasters has tripled in the last 30 years.

 

1.    Rise in sea level: Between 2006 and 2016, the rate of global sea-level rise was 2.5 times faster than it was for almost all of the 20th century.

More than 20 million people a year are forced from their homes by climate change.

2.    Heavy rainfall and Floods: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, west Africa, china has suffered with heavy rainfall and floods in the ongoing year.

in june 2020 a series of flash floods killed more than 179 people and destroyed 100s of houses. Over the last year deadly floods and landslides have forced 12 million people from their homes in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Just 2 years ago exceptionally heavy monsoon rains and intense flooding destroyed, killed, and devastated lives in the same countries. In some places the flooding was the worst for nearly 30 years, a third of Bangladesh was underwater.

3.    WILDFIRES: Australian wildfires, The start of 2020 found Australia in its worst-ever bushfire season following on from its hottest year on record which had left soil and fuels exceptionally dry. The fires have burned through more than 10 million hectares, killed at least 28 people, taken the homes of thousands of families, and left millions of people. . More than a billion native animals have been killed, and some species and ecosystems may never recover. 

in 2022, southern Europe and Morocco also experienced devastating wildfires.

 

4.    Droughts: Higher sea temperatures, linked to climate change, have doubled the likelihood of drought in the Horn of Africa region. Severe droughts in 2011, 2017 and 2019 have repeatedly wiped out crops and livestock. Droughts have left 15 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in need of aid, yet the aid effort is only 35 percent funded. People have been left without the means to put food on their table, and have been forced from their homes. Millions of people are facing acute food and water shortages. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan are also experiencing severe droughts and food scarcity.

5.    Earthquake: In October 2015 Afghanistan and Pakistan  suffered from earthquake according to reports from the Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) 272 people died, 2,152 people injured and 25,367 houses damaged across the country

In june,2022 due to Earthquake in Afghanistan more than 1150 people killed till now.

6.    Avalanche: in Afghanistan, Pakistan feb 2017 killed more than 100 people

7.     Hurricane: In 2017 Hurricane Harvey hit U.S (Texas) which caused heavy rainfall and flood in result 200,000 homes and business were destroyed and 30,000 people were displaced.

8.    Cyclones: In March 2019, Cyclone Idai took the lives of more than 1000 people across Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique in Southern Africa, and it devastated millions more who were left without food or basic services. Lethal landslides took homes and destroyed land, crops and infrastructure. Cyclone Kenneth arrived just six weeks later, sweeping through northern Mozambique, hitting areas where no tropical cyclone has been observed

since the satellite era.

The case of Pakistan

·       Pakistan regularly experiences some of the highest maximum temperatures in the world, with many regions experiencing temperatures of 38°C and above on an annual basis. During the 2015 heatwave in Pakistan over 65,000 people were hospitalized with heat stroke.

·       Pakistan's probability of severe drought is around 3% and projected to increase

·       UNISDR places Pakistan’s average annual losses to flood at around $1 billion. The unusually large rainfall from the 2010 monsoon caused the most catastrophic flooding in Pakistan’s history, flooding one-fifth of the country, affecting 20 million people, and claiming over 2,000 lives

 Conclusion

Climate change is forcing people from their homes, bringing poverty on top of poverty and increasing hunger. People in poorer countries are at least four times more likely to be displaced by extreme weather than people in rich countries.