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The facts are clear. Without urgent mitigation and adaptation strategies, the region will face compounding crises — economic, environmental, and humanitarian.
By The Green Call Team
Islamabad: It was April 2025, and the sun bore down mercilessly on South Asia. In New Delhi, thermometers crossed 40°C. In Pakistan, certain districts sizzled at 49°C. For millions, the heat wasn’t just unbearable — it was life-threatening.
This wasn’t an outlier. South Asia is warming faster than the global average, making heatwaves not only more frequent but far deadlier. Scientists have confirmed that human-induced climate change has made such events up to 4°C hotter than similar episodes in the pre-1987 era.
And yet, the rising temperatures are just one face of a complex crisis unraveling across the subcontinent.
Heatwaves and Human Health
Extreme heat now claims lives at a staggering pace. In India, a single day of intense heat can result in approximately 3,400 excess deaths. Stretch that to five days, and the toll could rise to 30,000. The most vulnerable — pregnant women, the elderly, outdoor laborers — are left gasping in a world that’s quickly becoming too hot to survive.
The Shrinking Economy
The economic costs are equally alarming. In 2021 alone, India lost 160 billion labor hours due to heat exposure — a loss equating to 5.4% of its GDP. Projections warn of grimmer days: without aggressive global climate action, the combined economies of six South Asian countries, including India and Pakistan, could shrink by 1.8% annually by 2050, and up to 8.8% by 2100.
A Nature study adds another dimension: South Asia could face a median income loss of 22% by mid-century due to climate-related disruptions.
The Vanishing Glaciers of the Himalayas
The Himalayas — often dubbed the “Third Pole” — are losing ice at a staggering rate. Between 2000 and 2016, glaciers in the region melted at an average of 8 billion tons per year.
For Pakistan, this is nothing short of existential. Up to 90% of its summer river flow — especially from the Indus — depends on glacial and snow melt. But water security is slipping away: Pakistan’s per capita water availability has dropped to 860 cubic meters annually, and is projected to fall below 500 by 2040, dangerously close to the absolute scarcity threshold.
Farming in a Furnace
Wheat yields in South Asia are expected to drop by up to 16% by 2050 — a direct consequence of erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and poor adaptation. Pakistan offers a sobering example: the lack of investment in climate-resilient farming has led to 40–60% declines in key crops like wheat, cotton, sesame, mangoes, and lemons.
For millions of smallholder farmers, this isn’t just a loss of produce — it’s the collapse of an entire way of life.
Coastal Communities Drowning
Along Pakistan’s coast, rising sea levels are already forcing fishing communities inland, where they face salinized soils, broken livelihoods, and growing food insecurity. The sea is creeping in — and so is despair.
Floods, Droughts, and Disasters
Climate change isn’t gradual anymore — it’s violent. In 2022, Pakistan’s catastrophic floods affected over 33 million people, inflicted $15.2 billion in damages, and left more than 10 million without access to safe drinking water.
Fast forward to 2025, and a deadly windstorm following a heatwave claimed at least 14 lives and injured over 100 in Pakistan. Nature, it seems, no longer believes in mercy.
What the People Know
Between December 2024 and February 2025, a survey found that over half of Indian adults are now “very worried” about climate change. And it’s not just academic — most respondents had personally experienced heatwaves, crop failures, power outages, and water shortages.
The climate crisis isn’t distant anymore. It’s outside the window.
The Road Ahead
The facts are clear. Without urgent mitigation and adaptation strategies, the region will face compounding crises — economic, environmental, and humanitarian.
India and Pakistan must invest in climate-resilient infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, water conservation, and above all, public awareness. This is not just about carbon and climate — it’s about survival.
The time to act was yesterday. The next best time is now.
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