ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has warned of rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms in the capital and northern regions over the next 12 hours, urging residents and tourists to take precautionary measures, the state broadcaster reported on Thursday.
Pakistan is considered one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have linked increasingly erratic rainfall, heat waves, glacier melt, and extreme monsoon events in South Asia to rising global temperatures.
The warnings come as Pakistan remains on high alert for extreme weather events linked to climate change, less than four years after catastrophic floods in 2022 submerged large parts of the country, affected 33 million people and killed more than 1,700.
“Partly cloudy weather accompanied by rain-windstorms and thunderstorms is expected at scattered places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad, and Upper and Central Punjab during the next twelve hours,” Radio Pakistan said in a report.
It added that hot and dry weather was likely in other parts of the country, while very hot conditions were expected in southern districts of Balochistan and upper areas of southern Sindh province.
District administrations were directed to keep rescue teams on alert, ensure the availability of emergency resources, and maintain the clearance of major highways, while tourists were advised against unnecessary travel in affected regions.
Last year, unusually heavy monsoon rains and flash floods killed over 1,000 people and affected around seven million, underscoring the country’s continued vulnerability to extreme weather.
The 2022 monsoon disaster also caused billions of dollars in damage and was described by the United Nations as a climate catastrophe.
