Temperatures in this landlocked city in Pakistan’s Sindh Province crossed 100 degrees for 51 straight days in March, and reached 123.8 degrees earlier last month.
Pakistan is headed towards 3.5 degrees Celsius warming by the end of the century, according to projections from Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit focused on environmental data. Heat wave-like conditions are expected to become even more frequent. In Pakistan’s Sindh province, more cities are experiencing 120 degree weather earlier than expected.
Pakistan has contributed less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but is one of the top 10 most vulnerable nations threatened by climate change. In 2009, at the United Nations climate change conference known as COP15, held in Copenhagen that year, developed countries agreed to provide $100 billion in climate funding to developing nations by 2020, a promise that to date remains unfulfilled. Pakistan, currently undergoing an economic crisis as the rupee plummets to a record low against the U.S. dollar, needs billions in aid to address its adaptation and mitigation needs.
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