1100 deaths due to floods, half of the country is under water – Corriere.it

A thousand dead and at least 33 million displaced – 15 per cent of the population – a million uninhabitable homes Almost half of the arable land is under water. The numbers make an impression, as do the photos taken in the past few days in It was devastated by monsoon rains unprecedented in the country’s modern history Asia.

Looking at the satellite images, More than land it looks like a sea where islands appear here and there connected by narrow labyrinths of land that escaped the floods. For weeks now, the rains have continued unabated, for three months in the worst affected areas. The fields have now turned into swamps, the crops are lost and so on The specter of a food crisis is ready to strike a country that is already forced to confront a steady rise in food prices And a deep political crisis.

Rescuers move as best they can, Camels, boats, and tractors are used to reach those left without roofs, to save and achieve the minimum necessary to survive. And where the water has not reached the high price causes the damage: In a few days the cost of many vegetables has quadrupled.

Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climatic events, although it is also one of the countries responsible for very low emissions due to poverty and poor industrialization. however Every year Islamabad plans to spend $50 million only for interventions that contain the effects of potential disasters like this year. While it is still not possible to quantify the impact of climate change on events of this magnitude, climate scientists agree when they say that global warming is increasing the likelihood of heavy rainfall across southern Asia.

The severity of the crisis that will hit Pakistan due to this monsoon season is clearly demonstrated by the announcement of Muftah Ismail, Minister of Finance in Islamabad, who estimated the total losses at about ten billion – “It will take a decade for the country to recover,” he said. »- That is the reason Dr
Ready to reopen some trade channels with neighboring India, despite the decades-long tensions along the border.