April was ‘wettest’ since 1961 in Pakistan, particularly climate change

While much of Asia is experiencing an unprecedented heat wave, Pakistan has just experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” with temperatures almost a degree Celsius below normal.

As is often the case in a country with the fifth largest population in the world and one of the most prone to extreme weather events, experts and meteorologists are pointing the finger at climate change. The poor South Asian country continues to say that its 240 million people (about 3% of the world’s population) account for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In Pakistan, many are now worried: April rains have already killed at least 144 people, including dozens of children, when their houses collapsed in torrential rains. But the monsoon, with its share of floods, flash floods and damage, is due to arrive in July and last until September. In addition to the floods, the country has also suffered from deadly heat waves and some of the worst air pollution in the world. All these phenomena are aggravated, according to experts, by a lack of infrastructure and poor management.

Rainfall reached “59.3 millimeters” in April, well above the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, the Met Office said in a report released late on Friday.

Recurring floods

The country’s biggest increase was in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province bordering Iran and Afghanistan. There, meteorological services note, precipitation fell four and a half times more than seasonal norms. However, the heaviest loss of life: 84 people killed, including 38 children, was recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in the northwest bordering Afghanistan, where 3,500 houses were damaged.

And while millions of people from the Philippines to Burma and India are suffocating in an unprecedented heat wave, in Pakistan the average monthly temperature fell to 23.67°C compared to the usual 24.54°C, the report said. According to Zaheer Ahmad Babar, a spokesman for meteorological services, this unusual month is due to climate change. “Climate change is a major contributor to unpredictable weather patterns in our region,” he says.

In 2022, the poor South Asian country was hit by devastating floods that affected almost a third of its territory and affected more than 33 million people, killing more than 1,700 people. More than a year and a half later, the UN says, nearly 10 million children still needed humanitarian assistance to survive in areas hit by torrential rains that washed away everything.

Danger for an entire generation

According to UNICEF, “Pakistani children are caught in a vicious cycle of droughts and floods.” Because while the country is currently suffering from high rainfall, Islamabad announced in early April that it was facing a water shortage of about 30% compared to its needs at the start of the rice and cotton planting season. Authorities pointed to less winter snowfall than usual in the northern glacier region.

“From conception to adulthood, the development of children’s brains, lungs and immune systems is influenced by their environment,” continues UNICEF, which cares for an entire generation. “The risks they face from climate change are considered extremely high,” the UN agency warns.