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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is experiencing increasingly frequent, intense and prolonged extreme temperatures due to the combined effects of global climate change, regional climatic variability and local environmental factors, the National Assembly was informed on Friday.
To a question by Dr Sharmila Faruqui, Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik submitted a written reply to the National Assembly Secretariat, stating that the observed increase was consistent with findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which had concluded that human activities had unequivocally warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
He said the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves and other temperature extremes had increased across most regions of the world, citing the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (2021-23). According to the reply, Pakistan’s vulnerability to extreme temperatures is further amplified by its location in an arid to semi-arid climatic region, changing atmospheric circulation patterns, prolonged dry spells, reduced soil moisture, declining vegetation cover, rapid urbanisation, urban heat-island effects and land-use changes.
“Together, these factors intensify daytime maximum temperatures, reduce nighttime cooling and contribute to more frequent, prolonged and severe heatwave conditions across different parts of the country.”
The minister also cited the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which had reported that recent years had been the warmest on record globally, highlighting the continuing influence of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions on the Earth’s climate system. These global changes were also affecting South Asia, where rising background temperatures had increased the probability of persistent and intense heatwave conditions, he said.
According to meteorological observations maintained by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), temperatures in parts of southern Pakistan, including Mithi and Shaheed Benazirabad, frequently exceeded 40°C during the pre-monsoon and summer seasons. Several coastal cities also experienced persistently high nighttime temperatures, often remaining at or above 25°C, he said.
According to the minister, scientific evidence indicated that the frequency, intensity and duration of extreme temperature events had increased over recent decades due to the combined effects of global climate change, regional variability and local environmental factors.
