STAFF REPORT IBD: Climate change could have catastrophic consequences for the water and food supply in Pakistan and attitudes towards the environment must change at the personal and government level if the country is to cope with the challenge, said speakers at a recently organised seminar by the Environmental Protection Department.
“Pakistan is already a water scarce country and will likely have to buy water by 2050,” said Prof Ghazala Nasim of Punjab University, who gave a talk on the impact of rising temperatures on agriculture and biodiversity at the seminar titled Climate Change Consequences and Mitigation.
She said that rising temperatures would badly damage two of the biggest food crops in Pakistan – wheat and rice. Wheat production would fall because of increased carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, while rice does not grow at temperatures of above 30 degrees Celsius, she said.
“The spread of environment wisdom is need of the hour. The climate change has already taken a toll on agriculture,” Prof Nasim said in her remarks.
Dr A.R. Saleemi of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in his talk on mitigation measures agreed that raising awareness are key to the battle against climate change.
Ahsan Javaid, who is in charge of the Clean Development Mechanism Cell of the Water and Power Ministry, gave a visual presentation of some of the global effects of climate change.