Pakistan’s Battle With Climate Extremes: Flooding, Water Scarcity, And Heatwaves
Pakistan is battling devastating climate extremes including deadly floods, severe droughts, and life-threatening heatwaves. Urgent action is needed to protect the nation.
Pakistan climate extremes are not theoretical—they are real, dangerous, and accelerating. With global greenhouse gas emissions still rising, Pakistan, contributing less than 1% to the total, is paying an outsize price.
This triple climate threat—flooding, water scarcity, and heatwaves—is compounding vulnerabilities, damaging livelihoods, and displacing families across the nation. Each crisis fuels the next, forming a vicious cycle that threatens Pakistan’s environmental, economic, and social stability.
The Deluge of 2025: A Monsoon of Misery
The 2025 monsoon season has proven catastrophic. Triggered by extreme cloudbursts and prolonged rainfall, floods have devastated urban and rural areas alike.
Key Impacts:
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Deadly Cloudbursts in Gilgit-Baltistan: Torrential rain caused deadly landslides and flash floods, stranding tourists and destroying roads.
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Urban Flooding in Punjab: Cities like Lahore and Rawalpindi turned into lakes. Lai Nullah overflowed, triggering emergency evacuations.
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Rising Casualties: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recorded hundreds of deaths and thousands displaced, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) hardest hit.
These floods are not natural anomalies—they are intensified by climate change. According to a UNDP report, monsoons in South Asia are becoming more erratic and intense, turning seasonal rain into violent disaster.
The Drought Paradox: Thirst in a Land of Rivers
While parts of the country drown, others thirst. The 2024–2025 drought, intensified by low rainfall and glacial melt mismanagement, has left provinces like Sindh and Balochistan parched.
Drought Highlights:
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Sindh’s 62% Rainfall Deficit: Withering crops and empty reservoirs have forced many farmers to abandon their lands.
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Water Shortages in Tarbela and Mangla Dams: These critical dams now sit dangerously below capacity, threatening agriculture and electricity production.
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Flash Droughts Predicted: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) warns of flash droughts—quickly forming dry spells triggered by heat and poor water retention.
This water crisis jeopardizes food security, damages the agriculture sector, and pushes already vulnerable populations into further instability.
A Heatwave That Won’t Quit
The India–Pakistan heatwave of 2025 has turned towns and cities into furnaces. Temperatures in many areas have hovered 5–8°C above normal, breaking records and human limits.
Impacts of the Heatwave:
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Public Health Emergency: Rising heat-related illnesses among the elderly, children, and outdoor workers.
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Accelerated Glacial Melt: Faster glacial thaw increases risks of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs)—sudden, destructive floods from melting glaciers.
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Electricity Grid Overload: Blackouts become common as energy demand for cooling skyrockets.
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Crop Damage: Farmers in Punjab and Sindh report burnt crops and reduced yields, threatening food supply chains.
These heatwaves are part of a broader climate trend, where global warming increases the duration, frequency, and intensity of heat events across South Asia. According to World Bank estimates, Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most vulnerable to climate extremes.
The Human Cost of Pakistan’s Climate Extremes
Behind the statistics are real people—farmers who lost their crops, children suffering from heatstroke, families who lost their homes in the floods.
Climate disasters:
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Displace thousands, increasing urban poverty and informal settlements.
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Strain healthcare systems, unable to cope with heat-related emergencies or waterborne diseases.
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Undermine education, with schools used as shelters or destroyed in floods.
The Pakistan climate extremes are pushing the country toward a humanitarian emergency, especially in remote and under-resourced regions.
Building a Resilient Future
Pakistan cannot fight climate change alone. But it can build resilience by:
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Investing in Early Warning Systems: Expand predictive weather models and real-time alerts.
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Climate-Smart Agriculture: Promote drought-resistant crops and modern irrigation.
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Urban Planning for Resilience: Upgrade drainage systems and prevent encroachment along rivers and canals.
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Glacial Lake Monitoring: Implement GLOF risk-reduction projects in northern Pakistan, as supported by UNDP and GLOF II initiatives.
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International Climate Finance: Demand fair compensation and adaptation funding from high-emission nations through mechanisms like the Loss and Damage Fund.
Pakistan must also align with the Global Stocktake process under the Paris Agreement to enhance transparency and climate action planning.
Conclusion: A Call to Urgent Climate Action
The Pakistan climate extremes of 2025 are not isolated disasters—they are warning signs of a dangerous future. Without urgent action, both nationally and globally, these extremes will only intensify.
The triple threat of flooding, drought, and heatwaves is eroding development gains and endangering lives. Now is the time for bold climate adaptation strategies, investment in green infrastructure, and strong global cooperation to help Pakistan—and nations like it—weather the storm.
