Study: Climate crisis may increase rainfall, more floods ahead

International climate scientists have found that Pakistan is suffering from heavy rainfall “due to global warming” and may experience more severe floods in the future. A new study by his team suggests that climate change could cause the worst-affected regions to increase heavy rainfall by about 50% in a short period of time.

Historical records show that Pakistan has experienced a dramatic increase in heavy rainfall since humans began pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Scientists say the floods were originally a “once in a century” natural disaster, but as global temperatures continue to rise, similar events are likely to occur more frequently in the future.

A displaced family wade through flooded areas after heavy rains in West Balochistan, Pakistan, on August 24, 2022. Visual China Figure

A displaced family wade through flooded areas after heavy rains in West Balochistan, Pakistan, on August 24, 2022. Visual China Map Today, about one-third of Pakistan is affected by floods, more than 33 million people have been displaced, nearly 1,500 people have died, and about 1.7 million homes have been destroyed.

However, in addition to the increased rainfall due to the impact of climate change, the ecological and environmental problems left over by the local area are also the triggering factors of disasters. For example, forests in the region have been cleared over the past few decades, mangrove swamps have been cleared, and man-made dams, irrigation and other changes to waterways have also had an impact on flood formation. In addition, the local infrastructure itself is not perfect, such as the weak construction of houses in flood-prone areas, which also means that more people will suffer from flooding.

Ayesha Siddiqi, assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge, said: “(The floods) hit places where local socio-ecological systems were already severely damaged. This disaster is the result of years of accumulation and should not be viewed as The result of a single factor.”