Lahore: For the second consecutive year, April in Pakistan did not arrive with flowering, but with dazzling heat. In the large expanses of Punjab, Sindh and Balutchistan, temperatures increased beyond 40 degrees Celsius, weeks before the official start of summer.
“In the past two years, Pakistan has not experienced spring,” Muhammad Irfan Virk, deputy director of the Pakistan Department (PMD) said in Islamabad, said Muhammad, The news. “April becomes hotter and warmer. It’s worrying. “
The PMD issued five thermal opinions in April and May this year, most of them in April, generally considered a month of transition. The hottest day was recorded on April 17, in the district of Shaheed Benazirabad du Sindh, where the Mercury struck 49 C.
According to the monthly Summary of the PMD climate, April 2025 was the hottest April second in the past 65 years – the highest was in 2022. And in May 2024 and 2025, temperatures jumped 4 to 6 C above long -term averages in several fields, the National Management Authority (NDMA) reported by the State (NDMA).
“This marks a disturbing trend, indicating that future heat waves can become even more intense due to climate change and anthropogenic factors,” the NDMA wrote in its annual publication in 2024.
The extreme heat was not confined to Pakistan. An climmeter report, an international platform that follows extreme weather events, revealed that Pakistan and India experienced an “unusual early arrival of the heat wave”.
“The heat wave in the two countries has a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable sectors of the population and seriously tests the global human limits, pushing the survival thresholds,” said the report.
The report distinguished Islamabad as one of the most affected cities, with average temperatures up to +3 C higher than in previous years.
This trend aligns with the results of a three decades of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan, which links rapid urbanization in the Pakistani capital upwards temperatures on the land surface.
“In Islamabad, rapid urban growth has replaced cultivated land, meadows and forests – making it one of the fastest cities in Pakistan,” noted WWF report. “The Islamabad built area has skyrocketed almost 585% while Tree Cover was 10% between 1990 and 2020.”
Similar urban expansion and loss of vegetation have been documented in Lahore and Karachi.
The government managed by the government had similar conclusions. A spokesperson for the NDMA said The news That even if the districts of southern Punjab, Sindh and Balutchistan remain climatic hot spots, urban centers warm up more quickly. “Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad warm up at a higher pace due to the urban effect of the heat island,” she said.
David Faranda, a main climatologist from the French National Center for Scientific Research and Co-author of the Climmeter report, believes that the disappearance of spring indicates a deeper climate change in South Asia.
“The loss of a” buffer “season like spring reflects how extreme weather conditions replace progressive seasonal changes, especially in vulnerable regions like South Asia,” he said. “Heat waves should be treated not only as weather events but as public health emergencies.” But Pakistan’s current systems are far from equipped to do this.
In May, the Minister of Climate Change told the National Assembly that 568 people died through Pakistan during a six -day heat wave between June 20 and last year. Among these, 427 came from Karachi alone.
However, when The news Contacted the Federal Ministry of Climate Change, the PMD and the NDMA, none of the organizations could provide updated figures for deaths or heat -related diseases. The number presented in Parliament, the officials admitted in private, came from non -profit organizations, adding that at present, there was no mechanism in place to collect these figures.
A government official, who asked not to be appointed, recognized the gap. “Such data must be collected. People must be aware of gravity [heatwaves] The problem is, ”he added.
Pakistan contributes less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but remains among the first ten countries most vulnerable to climate change. Floods, droughts, lighting flood floods, and now increasingly frequent and intense heat waves threaten the safety of food and water and millions of livelihoods.
And changes are not limited to the increase in heat. In April, Islamabad was beaten by a sudden and violent hailstorm – described by residents as a “bizarre” event – which damaged cars, houses and public infrastructure.
Although the causes are global, internal planning decisions also exacerbate local impacts, said Hammad Naqi Khan, CEO of WWF Pakistan.
“We create heat islands in our urban areas. We remove the vegetation and coverage of Lahore trees in Islamabad in Karachi, in Murre, “he said. “Yes, Pakistan’s contribution to emissions is very low, but it must also put order in its own house.”
Khan has urged federal and provincial governments to establish thermal action plans specific to the city and to give governments to the means to implement them.
Faranda agrees. He noted that some cities, such as Ahmedabad in India and Seville in Spain, now call waves of heat to raise awareness and develop them as serious threats.
In 2022, Seville appointed the first heat wave in the world: Zoe.
Faranda has also suggested to name dedicated “heat officers” to ensure coordination between government agencies during extreme weather events.
He also called climatic diplomacy between India from arc rivals and Pakistan to save lives.
“Heat waves do not recognize borders. Regional cooperation on data sharing, forecasts, public health strategies and urban resilience could save thousands of lives, “said Faranda. “In a fragmented world, the climate crisis could become a bridge for pragmatic and humanitarian collaboration.”
