The rains in Pakistan this year from April 1 to 17 have recorded 99% more than the last 30 years.
This has been confirmed by Zaheer Ahmed Babar, the spokesperson of the Meteorological Department, to the news agency AFP.
He said that ‘in April we faced unusual rains.’
Zaheer compared the record of the last 30 years and said that the rainfall from April 1 to 17, 2024 was 99% higher than the historical average rainfall.
In most parts of the country, the series of rains that started on Friday, April 12, has stopped till Monday, April 17, but according to the Meteorological Department, there is a possibility of a new spell of rain.
Why did this happen? Commenting on this, Zaheer said: ‘Climate change is the main reason for this uncertain weather and more than normal rainfall. But it happened not only in Pakistan but in the entire region that the temperature patterns are changing.
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Syed Hasnain Raza is an environmental educator and has also produced several research works and documentaries on climate change. “This situation is very worrying,” he said while talking to Independent Urdu.
Explaining the reason for more than normal rains, Hasnain said that ‘due to global warming, the temperature on the surface of the seas has increased. The effect of this is that clouds now contain much more water vapor. When these clouds get a favorable temperature, they produce abundant rain.’
Continuing, he said that ‘Pakistan has recorded an enormous increase in average rainfall since the 2022 flood.’
Talking regarding the floods of the rains, he said: ‘The rain falls heavily and the water does not get a chance to be absorbed into the ground. Because of the lack of urban planning, concrete roads and buildings have been built over the past channels of rainwater.’
He gave the example of twin cities (Islamabad/Rawalpindi) in support of his position. He said that ‘Five to 10 years ago, it took five to eight hours for the rainwater falling on the hills of Margalla to reach the drain. Because there were few concrete roads and buildings along the way.
‘Due to which the water is absorbed into the ground. Now the situation is that within one to one and a half hours of rain, the water reaches the suburbs of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and causes ‘flash floods’.
According to Hasnain, there is a similar situation in other parts of the country.
He added that if such rains continue, the plateau areas of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Chakwal and Dera Ghazi Khan may be more affected by floods.
According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency, at least 65 deaths have been recorded during the rains that lasted from April 1 to 17.
Meanwhile, the most affected province is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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2024-07-08 21:00:10
