Green Jhang

17/04/2024

“The report notes that Pakistan experiences an average annual loss of ($4) billion due to a high vulnerability to climate change-induced events,” the TIP said, adding that Pakistan has made its NDC (nationally determined contributions) commitments contingent upon receiving adequate finance.

The report further notes that while clear climate change mitigation and adaptation targets are set, limited progress has been made in establishing a suitable and well-integrated climate finance regime in Pakistan that can allow effective access to financial resources.

The report underlined that the climate change institutions as set under the Climate Change Act 2017 need to be operationalised and empowered and be the primary drivers of integrating climate in governance, both horizontally and vertically, across the federal and provincial governments.

16/04/2024

We are thrilled to announce that Green Jhang, in collaboration with the UN Environment Program, is initiating a tree planting campaign in Jhang! 🌿🌍

Join us in this noble cause to contribute to a greener, healthier environment for generations to come. Planting trees not only enhances our surroundings but also plays a vital role in combating climate change and preserving biodiversity.

Calling all young and passionate individuals in Jhang! We invite you to be part of this impactful initiative. Your participation can make a significant difference in our mission for a sustainable future.

Click on the link below to register and join us in planting trees for a better tomorrow! 🌱💚

https://forms.gle/xXk2bJxG8ZEaazWHA

Let's come together and create a greener, cleaner Jhang! 🌳

08/03/2024

Climate change is real and already here for long enough to push countries like Pakistan towards water scarcity – an unwanted distinction that is even more alarming in our case because of the population size and density as well as lack of human resource development and a society that hasn’t yet been fully industrialised.

So rising unemployment and poverty shouldn’t be a surprise, as Pakistan is already witnessing a cost-of-living crisis amid record-high inflation and interest rates – a combination not only sustaining but also further fuelling the existing economic crisis.

With glaciers melting at the fastest rate ever recorded, Pakistan, like other many other countries, is experiencing extreme weather events, including rising temperatures amid a rain pattern that is getting more and more erratic with each passing rainy season.

The state of affairs is complicating by the fact that the climate change or global warming is a global issue and Pakistan doesn’t have the resources or the policies required to launch initiatives that can tackle the challenge at various levels and in different sectors.

As agriculture is no more profitable for many households due to a shrinking land holding size and urbanisation of farmland at a time when mechanisation has been making it less labour intensive, people are moving to the cities in search of livelihood, further straining the fragile infrastructure these urban centres have. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive plan or policy in Pakistan to address the economic, social and political problems triggered by climate change.

08/03/2023

چین نے صرف 10 سال میں ایک خشک پہاڑوں اور ویران علاقے کو سر سبز کھیتوں میں بدل دیا۔ سیٹیلائیٹ تصاویر 2013 اور 2022 میں فرق نمایاں ہے۔ پاکستان کو بدلتے موسمی اثرات سے بچنے کیلئے فوری ایسے ماحول دوست اقدامات کی ضرورت ہے جن سے درجہ حرارت میں کمی آ سکتی ہے۔

06/03/2023

ملک میں ’ہیٹ ویو‘ مارچ میں ہی آنے کا امکان

محکمہ موسمیات نے ملک میں ہیٹ ویو مارچ میں ہی آنے کا امکان ظاہرکردیا جبکہ اپریل اور مئی میں بھی ہیٹ ویو کے امکانات ہیں۔

محکمہ موسمیات کا کہنا ہے کہ رواں سال خیبرپختونخوا کے شمالی علاقوں اور گلگت بلتستان کے بیشترعلاقوں میں معمول سے کم بارشیں ہوں گی۔

محکمہ موسمیات نے مارچ، اپریل اور مئی کا موسمیاتی جائزہ جاری کردیا جس کے مطابق ملک کے بیشتر حصوں میں بارشیں معمول کے مطابق ہوں گی۔

20/06/2022

14/06/2022

Pakistan is facing a severe water shortage. The average reduction of water in the major water stores of Pakistan has been recorded at around 40%. Water reduction in Mangla Dam alone has reached 920% — yes: you read that right.

The Tarbela and Mangla dams are the two biggest reservoirs operational in Pakistan. They have a combined ability to store water for 30 days only. In comparison, the US and India can store their waters for 900 and 190 days, respectively.

Due to a shortage of dams, Pakistan can store only 0.09% of the total water it receives annually. The current environmental conditions are harsh. If a few additional small-scale dams are built, much of the wasted water can be saved. Every year Pakistan is hit with floods. In addition to storing water, sufficient dams could also have saved thousands of affected people belonging in the flooded areas. In particular, this shortage is negatively affecting the lives of people living in the southern regions.

The current wave of water scarcity is not sudden. Successive governments have been warned on multiple occasions about the gravity of the issue. According to a report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan ranks third in the world among countries facing acute water shortages.

By 2025, the country is expected to reach a record water shortage. To quote the Pakistan Council on Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), Pakistan could “run dry” in less than three years. The extent of the issue is such that, regardless of an individual province’s position on water capacity now, every Pakistani citizen will find themselves short on water.

The increasing population has also worsened the water indicators for the future. Pakistan is the fourth largest user of water in the world. The UN estimates that by 2050 the population of Pakistan will reach over 380 million. This will have an exponential effect on water supply, which is already expected to remain below par for the 220 million we are today.

On the one hand, water is getting short, and on the other, the number of consumers is growing rapidly. The population bomb Pakistan is sitting on is arguably the least highlighted problem. With the relevant channelling of the water issue, population explosion should also find an ear of the authorities.

Pakistan is also among the countries likely to be most hit by the looming shadow of climate change. Extremely high temperatures have added fuel to the fire. Ample availability of water is also a necessity to deal with the heat.

The comforting prospect of the mess is that policymakers have finally recognized the economy as a core factor of national security. The first-ever National Security Policy (NSP) of Pakistan declares the economy as one of the main indicators of national security.

However, the architects of the NSP and other policies must link water with economic prosperity. Pakistan’s economy is mostly agrarian. It is now not hard to conceive how closely water and the economy are intertwined. If not coped within time, it will affect big chunks of our economy. Cotton, for example, is a necessary raw material used in the textile industry. Water insufficiency can lead to underproduction which will reduce exports. More rupee devaluation means more inflation.

Similarly, sugar and related crops are highly water-intensive. The country barely meets the challenge of sugar and wheat shortages. One can imagine the scale of crop deficiency and the resultant price hike if the farmlands are not supplied with adequate amounts of water.

If a befitting attitude is applied towards the immediate needs of the country, the subject of water as a determinant of national security can and should find its way up to the higher echelons. Only when this lost cause has found its way into mainstream issues can the next steps be followed. Building dams for preserving water in the ‘off-season’, reforming the incompetent bureaucracy concerned with water, complying with international climate goals, et cetera, are necessary to avoid the haunting circumstances of the near future.

Leaders (read: megalomaniacs) in the upcoming elections should start talking about water scarcity and mismanagement so that this threatening issue is realized on a national level. It is time to do away with dam politics and collaborate for once on the water crisis. After all, the availability of water in Pakistan is no less than a matter of national security.

Courtesy: Join Us

10/06/2022

LAHORE: The canal system in Punjab is facing up to 75pc water shortage as the province was supplied 53,100 cusecs of water against its needs of 127,800 cusecs on Thursday.

The data shared by the Punjab Irrigation Department reveals that Taunsa Barrage was supplied 6,700 cusecs, 73pc less than its requirement of 25,000 cusecs while Thal Canal was facing 75pc scarcity as 2,000 cusecs of water was released into it against the need of 8,000 cusecs.

The Panjnad Barrage was running with 66pc shortage, receiving 4,300 cusecs against the requirement of 12,700 cusecs, Rasul Barrage was suffering 59pc water stress with a supply of 9,900 cusecs against the need of 24,200 cusecs.

Both Sulemanki Barrage and Lower Bahawal Canal were facing 54pc shortage each, Sidhnai Barrage 51pc, Islam Barrage 50pc and Trimmu Barrage 43pc water scarcity. There was a 33pc water shortage in the Mailsi canal.

The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) reported an eight percent improvement in the inflow of water, 141,141 cusecs on Thursday against 134,781 cusecs on Wednesday, at rim stations across the system.

Tarbela Dam, the largest reservoir in the country, continues to be at dead level for the last couple of weeks as the average water inflow there was 71,500 cusecs against the mean outflows of 70,700 cusecs. Mean water inflows at Mangla Dam, surviving the dead level, was reported at 25,509 cusecs against the outflows of 25,353 cusecs.

27/05/2022

According to a report released by the Pakistan Global Climate Risk Index, the country ranks 5th position in relation to vulnerability to climate change and global warming, reported the Intellectual Forum for Right and Security.

Further, there have been studies that indicate rapid changes in temperature could severely impact the cropping seasons, and “potentially permanently eliminate” the viability of cultivation of certain crops.

Experts have warned that drastic weather conditions in Pakistan could also lead to abject poverty, malnutrition, food shortage, water scarcity, reduced livestock production resulting in forced migration and an upsurge of viral diseases, reported the Intellectual Forum for Right and Security.

Meanwhile, the PMD has stated that the month of May can bring a serious crisis to Pakistan. Pakistan had already witnessed a 62 to 74 percent decline in rainfall in the previous months and supposedly, intense heatwaves in summer can greatly impact water supply and food availability.

Notably, it is estimated that Asian countries can witness soaring temperatures, at least by 3°C by the year 2040. Such sweltering heat can incur a loss of about 50 per cent of wheat productivity.

Pakistan is likely to suffer more owing to its geographical location, reported the Intellectual Forum for Right and Security.

26/05/2022

Of all the crises confronting Pakistan today, water scarcity is the least talked about but most challenging for a country where over 30 million citizens have no access to clean drinking water. In three years, Pakistan will be staring at acute water scarcity, a situation which would leave millions of people and their land gasping for a trickle.

Back in the 1950s, it was a water-abundant country with about 6,000 cubic meters per capita. Today, it is 1,017 cubic meters per capita only. With a very limited storage capacity for annual rainfall, not more than 10 per cent, Pakistan is slated to become the most water-stressed country in South Asia in the next two decades. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Pakistan was already the third most water-stressed country in the world.

Besides the crippling inadequacy in developing robust water infrastructure, the most compelling reason for Pakistan becoming a `dry` country in the near future rests with the civilian and military leadership of the country which invested more in traditional security needs and not on urgent public issues like water. Even water, like other natural resources, was labelled as a security issue and not as an existential issue for the country. This collective leadership failure has put Pakistan in dire straits in terms of water security in the near future.

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26/05/2022

We strongly condemn the brutal act of burning trees by a political party protest in Islamabad. Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him said:

’کھجور کے باغات کو تباہ و برباد کرنا نہ اُنہیں جلانا، نہ کسی چوپائے کو ذبح کرنا، نہ کسی پھل دار درخت کو کاٹنا، نہ کوئی گرجا گرانا، نہ بچوں کو قتل کرنا نہ بوڑھوں کو، نہ عورتوں کو۔ عنقریب تم ایسے لوگوں کو پاؤ گے جنہوں نے اپنے آپ کو عبادت گاہوں میں پابند کر رکھا ہوگا، پس تم انہیں اور جس چیز کے لئے انہوں نے اپنے آپ کو پابند کر رکھا ہے، چھوڑ دینا۔‘‘

بيهقی، السنن الکبریٰ، 9 : 85، رقم : 17904

24/05/2022

World Meteorological Organization says extreme weather wreaked heavy toll on human lives

Critical global indicators of the climate crisis broke records in 2021, according to a UN report, from rising oceans to the levels of heat-trapping emissions in the atmosphere.

The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said these were clear signs of humanity’s impact on the planet, which was bringing long-lasting effects. Extreme weather, which the WMO called the day-to-day face of the climate emergency, wreaked a heavy toll on human lives and led to hundreds of billions of dollars in damages, the agency said.

Droughts and floods triggered food price rises that have been exacerbated in 2022. The WMO’s State of the Global Climate in 2021 report also found the past seven years have been the hottest recorded.

“Today’s State of the Climate report is a dismal litany of humanity’s failure to tackle climate disruption. Fossil fuels are a dead end – environmentally and economically,” said António Guterres, the secretary general of the UN.

“The only sustainable future is a renewable one. The good news is that the lifeline is right in front of us. Wind and solar are readily available and, in most cases, cheaper than coal and other fossil fuels. If we act together, the renewable energy transformation can be the peace project of the 21st century.”

Prof Petteri Taalas, the WMO secretary general, said: “Our climate is changing before our eyes. Human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come. Some glaciers have reached the point of no return and this will have long-term repercussions in a world in which more than 2 billion people already experience water stress.

“Extreme weather has the most immediate impact on our daily lives,” he said. “We are seeing a drought emergency unfolding in the Horn of Africa, recent deadly flooding in South Africa and the extreme heat in India and Pakistan. Early warning systems are critically required [to save lives] yet these are only available in less than half of WMO’s 187 member nations.”

The world’s oceans absorb more than 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases and 2021 set a record. The increasing warmth in the ocean, which is irreversible over timescales of centuries to millennia, has been especially strong in the last 20 years. Much of the ocean experienced at least one strong marine heatwave in 2021, the WMO said.

The global sea level also reached a new record high in 2021. It has increased by 10cm since 1993 and the rise is accelerating, driven by the melting of ice sheets and glaciers and the thermal expansion of the ocean. The rise imperils hundreds of millions of coastal dwellers, the WMO said, and increases the damage caused by hurricanes and cyclones.

Almost a quarter of CO2 emissions are absorbed by the oceans, but this causes them to become more acidic. This threatens shell-forming wildlife and corals and therefore food security, tourism and coastal protection, the WMO said. The oceans are now more acidic than for at least 26,000 years.

CO2 and methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, are at record levels, with CO2 concentration 50% higher than before the Industrial Revolution sparked the mass burning of fossil fuels. The global temperature in 2021 was 1.1C above the pre-industrial average, moving closer towards the 1.5C limit agreed by the world’s nations to avoid the worst climate impacts.

The WMO noted exceptional heatwaves in 2021 in western North America and the Mediterranean, deadly flooding in Henan, China, and western Europe, and rain being recorded for the first time on the summit of Greenland’s ice sheet. The agency warned eastern Africa is facing a high risk of rains failing for a fourth consecutive season, meaning the worst drought in 40 years.

Prof James Hansen, who warned the world about the climate crisis in testimony to the US Senate in 1988, said this week there was “a spectacular, continuing failure of governments to adopt effective long-term energy and climate policies.

“We must all be aware that demands for effective policies will yield only superficial change as long as the role of special interests in government remains unaddressed.”

Last week, the Guardian revealed that 195 oil and gas “carbon bombs” were planned by the industry, ie projects each producing at least a billion tonnes of CO2. These carbon bombs alone would drive global heating beyond the 1.5C limit, but the dozen biggest oil companies are on track to spend $103m a day to 2030 on climate-busting schemes.

Courtesy