1 week Ago
As another punishing heatwave grips Pakistan from today onwards, forecasts point to scorching temperatures across Sindh and Punjab, lasting up to a week. Authorities are scrambling to alert hospitals and residents, urging precautionary measures in areas expected to see the mercury cross 40°C. But while the warnings are seasonal, the phenomenon itself has become disturbingly permanent.
Each year, the heat arrives earlier, stays longer, and bites harder. This is not a random act of nature. It is the clearest indicator yet of an accelerating climate crisis, and a reminder that Pakistan, despite contributing little to global emissions, finds itself on the frontline.
It is imperative now that national and provincial authorities move beyond ad hoc advisories and develop climate-resilient infrastructure, responsive healthcare systems, and urban plans that actually account for the new normal. Extreme heat doesn’t only affect comfort — it threatens life itself. Labourers collapse on sunbaked streets, livestock suffers, water sources dry up, crops wither, and the food chain begins to crack.
Prolonged exposure to such temperatures without mitigation disrupts not just livelihoods but ecosystems. We can’t keep issuing alerts without building defences. Tariffs & Tantrums In the meantime, public awareness remains critical.
People must stay hydrated, avoid unnecessary exposure, protect animals, and check in on vulnerable neighbours. Schools and workplaces need to adjust timings, and emergency response systems must be ready — not reactive. We hope this moment pushes policymakers beyond tokenism.
Planting a few trees or issuing SMS alerts will not cut it anymore. If heatwaves are here to stay — and they are — then so must our resolve to survive them with foresight, empathy, and structural action. Pakistan cannot afford to sweat through another summer of unpreparedness.
Tags: burning reality.
