Pakistan’s Climate Crisis: an Integrated Analysis of Floods, Glacial Melt, Droughts, Water Scarcity and Biodiversity Loss
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Pakistan faces an escalating and interconnected climate crisis, ranking among world's most vulnerable countries. This integrated analysis examines five core hazards: floods, glacial melt, droughts, water scarcity, as well as biodiversity loss. Using a primarily qualitative, the exploratory approach incorporating descriptive quantitative trend analysis and thematic content analysis of the secondary sources (2000-2024), the research reveals these hazards are intensifying in the frequency and severity, driven by rising temperatures besides anthropogenic pressures. Their compounding effects create vulnerability loop: catastrophic floods (e.g., 2022: 33 million affected, >$30bn damage) cause displacement and infrastructure loss; the recurrent droughts cripple agriculture and drive migration; the rapid glacial melt threatens long-term water security while triggering floods; critical water scarcity (<900 m³/capita) undermines the food systems; and biodiversity collapse degrades ecosystem services. The results provide significant and leading information in highlighting an urgent need for integrated climate governance, resilient infrastructure, nature-based solutions & significantly scaled-up adaptation finance to address this multi-faceted emergency in particular context.
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4413032576