Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan on Sunday said that efforts are being made at various levels in the light of policy recommendations proposed in the National Climate Change Policy of Pakistan to cope with the negative impacts of climate change. Weather patterns in Pakistan were changing rapidly due to climate change, causing negative impacts on glaciers, river flows, underground water recharge systems, agriculture and overall biodiversity, the minister said in a press statement.
Mushahidullah said that depleting river flows, falling underground water level, shifting rainfall patterns, frequent heat waves, droughts, sea intrusion/sea-level rise, shrinking winter months, expanding summer months and melting glaciers are all terrible indicators of how fast the climate of the country is changing. “We need to take corrective measures and work hard in collaboration with relevant government and non-governmental organisations on fast track basis for hammering out mitigation and adaptation plans to tackle the negative impacts of the climate change on different sectors of economy, particularly irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, which is mainstay of national economy,” he stressed. The minister warned that global warming will exacerbate land degradation and desertification in the countries like Pakistan, where over 80 percent of the land mass is arid.
