3. Impact of climate change on agriculture and water resources of Pakistan: A review
Abstract
Water sustains life on earth for sustainable development. Judicious management of water resource has emerged as a key challenge of current century. Fresh water is the most vulnerable resource and is prone to effects of changing climate. It may cause serious effects on the intensity, frequency and distribution of rainfall patterns on temporal and spatial scales; enhance melting of glaciers and increase number and severity of floods and droughts. The Indus River, a major water resource of South Asia, has emerged from the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Global average temperatures have been rising, consequently human activities have changed the composition of the atmosphere. In the recent past, world climate change had a substantial effect on the environment of high mountain: snow, glaciers are especially prone to variations in atmosphere. Among various climatic factors, precipitation plays a key role in management of natural resource, irrigation scheduling and hydrological modeling etc. Knowledge of temporal and spatial occurrence of precipitation is also crucial to study impact of climate change on various systems. Pakistan’s agriculture growth depends mainly on irrigation, which produces over ninety percent of the country wheat, mostly pulses and nearly all of other important crops. Experts proposed resolutions for both demand and supply: new dams construction and other infrastructure, improved institutions governing water allocation, improved water productivity in agriculture and use. Changes in climate affects agriculture productivity, forestry and marine life, tropical cyclone and water sector.
Keywords: Agriculture; Climate change; Food security; Management; Water resources
