Pak floods, Russia wildfires and China landslides due to global warming

LONDON: Climate change experts are of the view that global warming predictions are correct and the world weather crisis that is causing floods in Pakistan, wildfires in Russia and landslides in China is evidence.

The torrential rains have affected almost 14 million people in Pakistan, making it a more serious humanitarian disaster than the South Asian tsunami and recent earthquakes in Jammu and Kashmir andHaiticombined.

The disaster was driven by a 'supercharged jet stream' that has also caused floods in China and a prolonged heat wave in Russia, The Telegraph reports.

Experts from the United Nations (UN) and universities around the world said the recent "extreme weather events" prove global warming is already happening.

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice-president of the body set up by the UN to monitor global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the 'dramatic' weather patterns are consistent with changes in the climate caused by mankind.

"These are events which reproduce and intensify in a climate disturbed by greenhouse gas pollution. Extreme events are one of the ways in which climatic changes become dramatically visible," he said.

The UN has rated the floods in Pakistan as the greatest humanitarian crisis in recent history, with 13.8 million people affected and 1,600 dead.

Flooding in China has killed more than 1,100 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.

In Russia the morgues are overflowing in Moscow and wildfires are raging in the countryside after the worst heat wave in 130 years, The Telegraph reports.

Dr Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring and attribution at the Met Office, said it was impossible to attribute any one of these particular weather events to global warming alone.

But he said there is "clear evidence" of an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events because of climate change.

Source:TIMES Of India,11-8-2010

Biggest-ever disaster: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: What was till today described as the worst floods in Pakistan's history has now been termed as the biggest disaster ever to strike the country. Briefing mediapersons on Friday even as a fresh spell of monsoons spelt further misery, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman Nadeem Ahmed said this was the biggest disaster in Pakistan's history with 1,32,000 sq km affected in just two provinces.

Comparing the floods to the 2005 earthquake which killed thousands, Lt. Gen. (retired) Ahmed said as against 30,000 sq km affected then, 1,32,000 sq km had been affected in just the two provinces of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province) and Punjab. While these two provinces are the worst affected, the floods have left a trail of destruction in Balochistan and Sindh which is the latest worry with the Indus overflowing.

As a fresh spell of rainfall lashed the country on Friday, relief work in many a place was stalled because helicopters were grounded.

While the United Nations “situation report'' pegged the flood-affected figures at over four million, the NDMA chairman said 12 million people had been affected in Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa and Punjab alone and over two lakh houses damaged/destroyed across the country.The entry of the “flood wave'' into Sindh put 11 districts of the province at risk of flooding and an estimated five lakh people were relocated to safer places. UNESCO has expressed concern over the fate of the ruins of the Indus Valley Civilisation in Mohenjo-Daro in Sindh.

And, the worst does not seem to be over as the Meteorological Department predicted torrential rains. With no early respite from the floods in sight, Prime Minister Yusuf Syed Raza Gilani addressed the nation to seek the support of all Pakistanis living within the country and overseas to help deal with this natural calamity.

He also announced the decision of the Cabinet to donate a month's salary to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and listed salary cuts to be undertaken by the armed forces and government personnel. He urged the corporate sector in particular to chip in.

Meanwhile, international aid has been coming in but government sources claimed that this was nothing in comparison to what was received after the earthquake and for the relief and rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons last year.In fact, the United Nations in its last ‘situation report' said “overall, the humanitarian needs still outweigh the response''.

Source: The Hindu 7-8-2010

Pak alleges India has released flood waters

Over a dozen villages in Punjab province were inundated in the border areas of Sialkot district and the Pakistani officials blamed it on India, saying authorities across the frontier had released excess flood water.

The villages in Bajwat area of Sialkot district were submerged following a fresh spate in the Chenab river after the release of waters by India, Pakistani officials alleged.

Besides the Chenab, the water level in Tawi river too has increased. As a result, several villages in Bajwat area have been cut off from Sialkot, they said.Officials said the situation was under control and no loss of life or damage to property had been reported.

According to a forecast by the Flood Forecasting Division, high floods ranging from 270,000 cusecs to 350,000 cusecs is expected in the Chenab at Khanki today.The FFD said high floods in the river might lead to inundation of low-lying areas around the river bed in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin districts.

Source: Deccan Herald, 7-8-2010