Climate change plays role in Pakistan disaster

Global warming may have contributed to the devastating rains in Pakistan, according to a rapid analysis by experts. For the particularly affected provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan, some model calculations showed that the amount of rain over a particularly bad five-day period was up to 50 percent higher than it would have been without climate change. This was reported by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network led by German climate scientist Friederike Otto of Imperial College in London. Since mid-June, Pakistan has experienced unusually heavy monsoon rains. A third of the country is under water, 33 million people have been affected, and more than 1480 people have died, according to official figures. Isabel Bogorinsky of Welthungerhilfe warns that Pakistan will struggle with the consequences for a long time to come. The water has washed away much agricultural land.