Pakistan is dealing with the greatest flood it has seen in a century in 2022. It had already
experienced numerous floods, but the Pakistan flood of 2022 is the deadliest to date.
At least 33 million people are homeless as a result of this natural disaster, and more than 1200
people have even died.
Recent data indicate that one-third of Pakistan is underwater. The country is still struggling to recover from the destruction, and there aren’t many people willing to help them.
But why is Pakistan going to have such a devastating flood in 2022? Let’s understand what
scientists say the cause of this tremendous Pakistan flood in 2022
Heatwave: The main cause of Pakistan Flood 2022
According to researchers, the issue began to surface as Pakistan experienced its most challenging summer this year. They experienced a devastating heat wave in April and May. Many locations in Pakistan experienced average May temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius.
These were not normal heatwaves — they were the worst in the world. We had the hottest place on Earth in Pakistan
Malik Amin Aslam, Former Minister of State for Environment of Pakistan
But why can a period of severe heat result in flooding? Let’s analyze the situation
When the temperature is quite high, the air becomes much more able to hold moisture.
A significant amount of moisture in the air could cause massive rain in summer. That is what happened with Pakistan.
The monsoon turns a significant amount of moisture into the rain. Pakistan saw nearly two times as much rain this year as in previous years.
Although there are many causes of the Pakistan flood 2022, this one is considered to be the root cause of this catastrophe.
Summary of the topic
- As the summer faced extensive heatwave, so the monsoon faced extensive rain.
- Hot air can able to hold much more moisture than cold air.
- The extra loaded moisture causes extra rain in the monsoon.
- The massive rain in the monsoon is somehow responsible for the massive flood.
Glacial Melting: Another cause of Pakistan Flood 2022
This year the glacials in the northern hill region of Pakistan started melting at a record rate due to some unknown reason. This fast melting causes the bursting out of the glacial lakes.
Due to an unforeseen cause, the glaciers in Pakistan’s northern hill region began melting at an astonishing rate this year. The glacial lakes broke out as a result of this rapid melting.
Tributaries received a lot more water than they had previously because of the extra glacier water. These tributaries discharge the extra water into the Indus, Pakistan’s biggest river, which flows through most of the country’s major cities.
All these concepts are taken from Athar Hussain, a climate scientist at COMSATS University Islamabad, and his opinion was published in nature.
Although the exact relationship between rapid glacial melting and the flood is not well understood, particularly this year, when Athar Hussain visited some high altitude places of glaciers and the Hunza River, he found that Hunza is carrying muddy water.
Muddy water means there is a rapid melting of glaciers.
But, why is that happening this year only? The answer is not well understood. But, the extensive heat waves are again causing the rapid melting of glaciers
Besides, heat waves generate depression in the Arabian sea. This depression invited the monsoon much earlier. This excessive rain for a long period of time for a large region was an unusual phenomenon.
As an outcome, rainfall in Pakistan during the current monsoon season has exceeded that country’s average annual rainfall by approximately three times. Sindh and Baluchistan, two southern provinces, got more than five times that average.
La Niña climate event – may be a cause of this flood in Pakistan
Different climate experts all over the world are producing their opinions regarding this sudden flood. Few of them are hypothesizing that the La Niña climate event which is common in India and Pakistan could influence the heavy rainfall in this monsoon in Pakistan.
They predict that this La Niña climate event could go up to the last of this year. That is not a strong relationship, but, that might influence the terribly.
Global Warming could be another Reason
Some environmental scientists are saying that human-made global warming could be a cause of this type of heavy rain as well as flood.
As we know as long as the temperature will go up the rainfall will grow up. So, global warming could be a cause. But, this suddenly happened because extreme rainfall is not directly linked to global warming alone.
Pakistan saw a faster rate of temperature rise than the rest of the world between 1986 and 2015, rising by 0.3 °C each decade. This rise in temperature could not be neglected.
What else causes the Pakistan flood in 2022
The already described reasons are not the cause of this Pakistan flood 2022, there are many other reasons. They are not proven reasons but experts all over the world are mentioning those points as a reason in this regard.
There are political reasons, lack of infrastructure, lack of drainage, weak disaster management system, etc are all influence today’s situation drop by drop.