ALTHOUGH the effects of climate change manifest themselves throughout the year, they seem particularly more noticeable with the onset of summer. As half the country bakes in a fresh heatwave, Pakistan’s climate challenges have again been brought into sharp relief by the Ministry of Climate Change’s recent intimation to parliament about the formation of more than 3,000 glacial lakes owing to the rapid recession of the country’s glacial cover. These lakes, according to the climate minister, pose a direct threat to at least 7.1m people living downstream. Their formation is just a symptom of a larger phenomenon: the ice cover over what is known as the Third Pole — as the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges are collectively known — has been destabilising due to global warming, bringing with it an increasing risk of water scarcity and climate havoc not just for Pakistan, but for around 2bn people in southern Asia who rely on it for their freshwater needs. India’s recent, unilateral ‘suspension’ of the Indus Waters Treaty has already provided a glimpse into the future of how regional conflicts may take shape as water shortages intensify due to climate change.

The more localised, immediate effects of climate change are manifesting themselves in other forms. As temperatures soar, the underprivileged are finding themselves more exposed to the hotter weather because power distribution companies have been allowed to prioritise electricity provision to the privileged while imposing collective punishment on areas where bill recoveries are lower. Urban slums and rural towns bear the brunt of this punishment, but the high power tariffs ensure that everyone pays a steep price for holding the weather at bay. Meanwhile, large tracts of arable land all over the country have been left parched by the heat and diminished water supply, while the country’s largest city has been seeing repeated protests because residents do not get piped water. That is not the end of it: it has previously been observed that hot and dry weather has been followed by heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding. Unless disaster management plans are in place, another round of misery, death and destruction may be unleashed in the coming months. Pakistan’s climate vulnerabilities need to be addressed on a war footing. Without a proper plan, millions of its inhabitants will remain under threat.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2025