Synopsis
Pakistan, the world’s fifth-most-populous country, is fighting for its survival. This summer, erratic monsoon rains battered the country from north to south – Sindh, the southernmost province, received 464% more rain over the last few weeks than the thirty-year average for the period. At the same time, Pakistan’s glaciers are melting at a rate never seen before. These two consequences of the climate crisis have combined to create a monstrous super-flood that has ravaged the country. Ninety per cent of crops in Sindh have been damaged; Faisal Edhi, who runs Pakistan’s largest social welfare organisation, the Edhi Foundation, has warned that those who don’t die from the floods risk death by starvation. A famine is coming; the only question is how soon? Economic losses are estimated to be in excess of $30bn, 50 million people have been internally displaced, there is the threat of a malaria epidemic as floodwater lies stagnant – satellite images have shown the shocking formation of a 100km-wide inland lake in Sindh due to overflowing from the Indus River – and there is no doubt that a generation will be cast backwards as already meagre education and health services are violently disrupted. More than 400 children have died and with winter coming and millions left without shelter, many more will. This is a tragedy of nightmarish proportions and yet if you live outside of Pakistan, you probably haven’t heard much about it at all. Given its near total lack of interest in the fate of Pakistan, it would seem that the rest of the world hasn’t considered that this epic humanitarian crisis is a peek into the apocalyptic future that awaits us all. The horrors faced by the country today are a clear warning of the consequences of universal and rapacious climate breakdown. Human beings have destroyed our one and only planet; what is happening in Pakistan today is proof of that. Our voracious burning of fossil fuels, obnoxious disregard for the wild and natural world we inherited, and criminal consumption means that no country, no matter its wealth, will be immune from the consequences of global heating. Today it is Pakistan, tomorrow it will be California, France, Australia, the world. Hence we strongly encourage the International Community to support Pakistan economically - as well as ecologically - during these difficult times in Pakistan. In particular, to save innocent civilians and children - and prevent further loss of life in the future.
About the Author
Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/08/pakistan-floods-climate-crisis https://dailytimes.com.pk/994601/devastation-far-from-over/ https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-floods-overflowing-indus-river-turns-part-of-sindh-province-into-wide-lake-512145 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KtpfLzh3yQ https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/31/asia/pakistan-floods-forms-inland-lake-satellite-intl-hnk/index.html https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/devastating-floods-pakistan-2022 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62712301 My prayers to all afflicted people in Pakistan by the floods. We strongly encourage the International Community to support Pakistan economically - as well as ecologically - during these difficult times in Pakistan. In particular, to save innocent civilians and children - and prevent further loss of life in the future.
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