Pakistan Mountain Villages Struggle to Contain Glacial Lake Flood Threat
Residents of mountain villages in Pakistan’s northern regions are confronting the dire consequences of melting glaciers due to the impact of global warming, as reported Reuters.
Tariq Jamil, a 51-year-old man from the Hassanabad village in the Hunza Valley, has taken on the task of keeping his community informed about the imminent dangers. His work involves measuring ice movement, taking photos, and collecting data from sensors and cameras near the Shisper glacier to ensure his village is updated about potential threats.
As a result of climate change, the rising temperatures are causing glaciers to recede, leading to the formation of unstable lakes. This has resulted in deadly floods that have impacted many regions in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and Himalayan mountain ranges in Pakistan.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has reported that Himalayan glaciers could lose up to 75 percent of their ice the end of the century. In response to these challenges, Pakistan has received funding from the Green Climate Fund to mitigate the risk of glacial lake floods, as it remains one of the most vulnerable countries to this threat. Other countries are also grappling with this issue, such as Bhutan, which has taken steps to prevent glacial lake floods.
As part of a UN-backed project called Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) II, residents in these vulnerable areas are seeking increased support to adapt to the looming dangers posed glacial lake floods.
These heightened concerns are fueled UNDP’s findings that Pakistan experienced 75 glacial lake floods in 2022, up from 14 occurrences in previous years. As a result, residents are urgently seeking financial aid to protect their homes and livelihoods from the potential devastation caused glacial lake floods.
Despite the challenges, the villagers are determined to safeguard their way of life and protect their homeland from the risk of natural disasters. With international climate finance being a critical topic at the upcoming COP28 summit, the spotlight is on wealthy nations to fulfill their pledges and support vulnerable regions like northern Pakistan.
The villagers remain rooted in their land, deeply attached to their ancestral homes and reluctant to leave in the face of the looming threats. As climate change continues to pose significant challenges, the communities embody resilience and determination to preserve their way of life amidst the adversity.