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Degree
Master of Science in Journalism
Faculty / School
Faculty of Business Administration (FBA)
Supervisor
Shahzeb Ahmed Hashim, Lecturer, Centre for Excellence in Journalism
Project Type
MSJ Capstone
Keywords
Climate change, Coastal region, Green growth, Climate migrants, barrages
Abstract / Summary
Pakistan is one those tropical countries that faces a major climate change challenge. People are generally less concerned about the issue but a great effort is required to face this growing threat. Extreme weather events can already be seen. In 2015 more than 2000 people died because of heat wave which heat in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.
Karachi, the Arabian coastal region has area of approximately 3,640 km2. The impact of global warming can be measured in the coastal region as sea levels have risen by approximately 10 centimetres in the last century. The sea levels are expected to rise more than 50 centimetres by the end of this century. This will have possible flooding in the lower south region of Karachi before it moves upwards. The change in the sea level is due to two main reasons, thermal expansion and glacier mass loss.
Climate change also threatens increase in coastal erosion due to rise in the sea levels. Possible impacts would be on the coastline infrastructure like power plants, real-estate, housing etc. The slightest rise in the sea-levels could trigger sea storms which could cause massive flooding. The change can also cause the salinization of fresh water from creeks flowing from Indus Delta reservoirs along the coastal belt. Most of the coastal population could face dire fresh water scarcity as much of the coastal population gets from these reservoirs. As water becomes salty, its use for human and for domestic purpose diminishes.
Pakistan is ranked on seventh position among countries affected by climate change with death toll being approximately 523 lives per year. The newly elected government has promised to take climate change seriously. Prime Minster Imran Khan, in his inaugural address to the nation on 19th August addressed the issue of global warming and said that the government would champion “green growth” by starting a massive tree plantation campaign. No other prime minister has addressed the issue in his or her inaugural address. Making policies that makes environments of the cities sustainable is one of the biggest challenges Pakistan faces today. It is any ongoing struggle to at least prepare ourselves to battle the threats and take necessary actions to stop climate change for occurring. The Climate Change Act 2017 lists all the obligations under international convention to address the impact of climate change but, only time will tell whether the government ii is willing enough to act upon it to stop the climate change in country, most importantly Karachi as it serves as the economic backbone of the country.
Media Format
.mp4
Run Time
00:02:58
Recommended Citation
Tahir, J. (2019). Thousands forced to migrate as sea swallows coastal belt (Unpublished graduate research project). Institute of Business Administration, Pakistan. Retrieved from https://ir.iba.edu.pk/research-projects-msj/4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This research is openly accessible under CC By 4.0.
