WEF: Climate Change Causes Pakistani Men to Beat up Their Wives By Eric Worrall
While the economic and physical health impacts of climate change are clear, Pakistan’s population is also experiencing the often overlooked mental health ramifications
In 2024, Pakistan has faced devastating floods and extreme heat, hindering its recovery from existing climate crisis-related disasters.
While the economic and physical health impacts of climate change are clear, Pakistan’s population is also experiencing the often overlooked mental health ramifications.
How can a growing sense of climate anxiety or “eco-anxiety” in locals be addressed?
The evidence that climate change is playing a role in Pakistan floods is less than conclusive.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
New study reveals the influence of natural climate drivers on extreme monsoons in Pakistan
A new study by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory looks at the influence of natural climate variability on extreme flooding in Pakistan.
The study analyzed over 40 years of data and found that natural climate variability accounts for over 70% of observed monsoon variability and extremes in Pakistan during the 21st century, with climate change potentially adding to their severity.
A new study by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory looks at some of the influences that could be driving the increasingly severe weather over Pakistan.
Published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, the study analyzed over 40 years of data and found that natural climate variability, which includes factors such as sea surface temperature and jet stream anomalies, accounts for over 70% of observed monsoon variability and extremes in Pakistan during the 21st century — with climate change potentially adding to their severity.
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Although natural climate variability can explain more than 70% of the precipitation variability over Pakistan, Ashfaq explained that climate change may still play an indirect role. The increased variabilities in jet stream and sea surface temperatures and co-occurrence of multiple forcings may be caused by climate change. Additionally, more atmospheric moisture caused by warmer global temperatures can lead to heavier rainfall, especially when combined with other dynamic forcings. However, further research is necessary to fully understand the impact of climate change on monsoons in Pakistan.
“The link between climate change and extreme weather should be carefully evaluated,” Ashfaq said. “Climate change may have an indirect role in shaping the changes in the characteristics of identified forcings, but they’re all part of naturally occurring variability in the atmosphere and the oceans.”
The monsoons in Pakistan have been exceptionally harsh in recent decades, resulting in extraordinary drought conditions and record flooding events. The changing characteristics of extreme events are widely attributed to climate change. However, given this region’s long history of floods and droughts, the role of natural climate variability cannot be rejected without a careful diagnosis. Here, we examine how oceanic and atmospheric variability has contributed to unusual precipitation distributions in West South Asia. Variations in sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific and northern Arabian Sea, and internal atmospheric variability related to the circumglobal teleconnection pattern and the subtropical westerly jet stream, explain more than 70% of monthly summer precipitation variability in the 21st century. Several of these forcings have co-occurred with record strength during episodes of extreme monsoons, which have exacerbated the overall effect. Climate change may have contributed to increased variability and the in-phase co-occurrences of the identified mechanisms, but further research is required to confirm any such connection.
If the flood events are likely natural, or even if there is a threat from climate change, the real question is, what can be done about the floods?
There is evidence that Pakistan could do a lot more to alleviate the damage from floods.
What does colonialism have to do with climate change?
Sep 9, 2022
John Letzing Digital Editor, Strategic Intelligence, World Economic Forum
Minji Sung Data Visuals and Content Specialist, Strategic Intelligence, World Economic Forum
Flooding in Pakistan has revived interest in the relationship between the colonial past and the present climate crisis.
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When flooding amplified by climate change began to submerge nearly a third of Pakistan recently, a remnant of the country’s colonial past stood between the deluge and hundreds of thousands of people: the Sukkur Barrage.
It wasn’t certain that the 90-year-old diversion dam, a onetime engineering triumph designed by local British rulers but since cited for safety issues and described as “decrepit”, would endure – making it a potentially fatal burden and a symbol of the corrosive impact of colonialism on much of the world.
The damheld, despite Pakistan’s “monsoon on steroids”. Other outcomes have been less fortunate. A German non-profit’s list of the 10 countries most affected by climate change-related extreme weather events during the first two decades of this century includes eight former colonies (one isn’t technically a country, and remains a US territory sometimes described as a colony).
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The British Raj, which included present-day Pakistan, is far from the only historical example of an exploitative colonial presence.
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One means of addressing the disparity might be through reparations.
Given the barrage has been largely neglected in the 75 years since the fall of the British Raj, it is a testament to the remarkable workmanship of the British imperial age that the barrage held back part of the 2022 floods.
I have a plan to halt climate anxiety almost instantly. Quit broadcasting your nonsense to them and more importantly to our kids in the US. We have kids who have been terrified for 2 decades, some who have dropped plans for college, having kids and dreaming of the future. All from the magical thinking of the climate cult.
I have a plan to halt climate anxiety almost instantly. Quit broadcasting your nonsense to them and more importantly to our kids in the US. We have kids who have been terrified for 2 decades, some who have dropped plans for college, having kids and dreaming of the future. All from the magical thinking of the climate cult.
I think climate change alarmism is directly responsible for this type of literary garbage. 🥹