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The fundamental consequences of global warming include an upsurge in the intensity and frequency of temperature extremes. This study provides an insight into historical trends and projected changes in extreme temperatures on annual and seasonal scales across "Balochistan, Pakistan". Historical trends are analyzed through the Mann Kendal test, and extreme temperatures (Tmax and Tmin) are evaluated using generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution for historical period (1991-2020) from the observational data and the two projected periods as near-future (2041-2070) and far-future (2071-2100) using a six-member bias-corrected ensemble of regional climate models (RCMs) projections from the coordinate regional downscaling experiment (CORDEX) based on the worst emission scenario (RCP8.5). The evaluation of historical temperature trends suggests that Tmax generally increase on yearly scale and give mixed signals on seasonal scale (winter, spring, summer, and autumn); however, Tmin trends gave mixed signals at both yearly and seasonal scale. Compared to the historical period, the return levels are generally expected to be higher for Tmax and Tmin during the both projection periods in the order as far-future > near-future > historical on yearly and seasonal basis; however, the changes in Tmin are more evident. Station-averaged anomalies of + 1.9 °C and + 3.6 °C were estimated in 100-year return levels for yearly Tmax for near-future and far-future, respectively, while the anomalies in Tmin were found to be + 3.5 °C and + 4.8 °C which suggest the intensified heatwaves but milder colder extreme in future. The findings provide guidance on improved quantification of changing frequencies and severity in temperature extremes and the associated impacts., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Due to global and regional climatic dynamics for a couple of decades, agricultural productivity, rural livelihood, and food security have been badly affected in Pakistan. This study was conducted in Punjab, Pakistan, to explore the farmers' understanding of the impacts of climate change, adaptation strategies, determinants, and benefits on agriculture using data from 1080 respondents. Perceived risks by the farmers in the rice-wheat cropping system and the cotton-wheat cropping system were weed infestation, seed rate augmented, low-quality seeds, infestation of crop diseases and pests, change of cropping pattern, increase of input use, decrease of cropping intensity and productivity, decreasing soil fertility, increasing irrigation frequency, and increase of harvesting time. To alleviate the adverse influences of climate change, the adaptation strategies used by farmers were management of crop and variety, soil and irrigation water, diversification of agriculture production systems and livelihood sources, management of fertilizer and farm operations time, spatial adaptation, access to risk reduction measures and financial assets, adoption of new technologies, institutional support, and indigenous knowledge. Moreover, the results of Binary Logistic Regression indicate that adaptation strategies are affected by different factors like age, education, household family size, off-farm income, remittances, credit access, information on climatic and natural hazards, information on weather forecasting, land acreage, the experience of growing crops and rearing of livestock, tenancy status, tube well ownership, livestock inventory, access to market information, agricultural extension services, and distance from agricultural input/output market. There is a significant difference between adapters and nonadapters. The risk management system may be created to protect crops against failures caused by extreme weather events. There is a need to develop crop varieties that are both high yielding and resistant to climate change. Moreover, cropping patterns should be revised to combat the effects of climate change. To enhance farmers' standard of living, it is necessary to provide adequate extension services and a more significant number of investment facilities. These measures will assist farmers in maintaining their standard of living and food security over the long term to adapt to the effects of climate change based on various cropping zones., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The Hindukush, Karakorum, and Himalaya (HKH) mountains are often referred to as the "Third Pole" because of high snow, being a major freshwater resource and early indicator of climate change. Therefore, research on the dynamics of glacier changes and their relationship with climate and topographic variability is essential for sustainable water resource management and adaptation strategies in Pakistan. In this contribution, we delineated 187 glaciers and examined these glacier changes in the Shigar Basin from 1973 to 2020 using Corona, Landsat Operational Land Imager/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus/Thematic Mapper/Multispectral Scanner System (OLI/ETM/TM/MSS), Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF), and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model (SRTM DEM) imageries. The total glacier area decreased from 2796.31 ± 132 km 2 in 1973 to 2756.27 ± 63 km 2 in 2020 at an average rate of - 0.83 ± 0.03 km 2 yr -1 . Specifically, during the period of 1990-2000, these glaciers shrank most heavily at an average rate of - 2.372 ± 0.08 km 2 yr -1 . In contrast, an increased rate of 0.57 ± 0.02 km 2 yr -1 in total glacier area was observed during the recent decade (2010-2020). Moreover, the glaciers with gentle slopes retreated less heavily than the steep ones. There was reduction in glacier coverage and length for all slope classes, and a small reduction was observed with gentle slopes, while higher losses were observed on steep slope gradients. The transition of glaciers in the Shigar Basin may be attributed by the direct influence of glacier size and topographical characteristics. By comparing with climate records, our findings suggest that the overall reduction in glacier area from 1973 to 2020 was associated with declining precipitation (- 0.78 mmm/year) and rising temperature (0.045 °C/year) trends in the region, and glacier advances in recent decade (2010-2020) were likely to be driven by increased winter and autumn precipitation., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aimed to determine the farmers' perceived impact of climate change on irrigation water and the adaptation measure adopted to mitigate its adverse effects. A binary logistic regression model was used to identified factors affecting the selection of adaptation measures. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to compute the benefits of adaptation strategies. The study was conducted in two major cropping systems, i.e., the Cotton Wheat Cropping System (CWCS) and Rice Wheat Cropping System (RWCS) of Punjab, Pakistan, using primary data of 1080 farmers collected through a multistage sampling technique. Due to climate change there was deterioration in surface water and groundwater quality in CWCS than in RWCS. The farmer uses different adaptation strategies like water harvesting, crop diversification, increasing use of irrigation, laser land leveling to save water, making ridges, building a water harvesting scheme, changing irrigation time, high-efficiency irrigation system and water-saving technologies. Adaptation strategies used by farmer were affected by different socioeconomic, demographic and agronomic factors. Results of the binary logistic regression showed that age, farming experience, education, household size, farm size, tenancy status of owner, access to farm credit, information on weather forecasting, soil quality, tube well ownership, remittances, off-farm income, agricultural extension services provided for irrigation water, and information on climatic and natural hazards played a significant role in the selection of adaptation strategies for irrigation water. Results of PLS-SEM showed that adaptation strategies mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on irrigation water. Farmers' awareness regarding the impact of climatic variability on irrigation water should be enhanced. Availability of credit to farmers should be improved on easy terms to facilitate the adoption of interventions for better irrigation water management. It is high time for policymakers to design effective, affordable, and workable policies to mitigate climate change vulnerabilities against irrigation water to improve the wellbeing of the farmers., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The main objective of this study was to capture farmers' perceptions and adaptations to climate change in agriculture sector. Along with this, it also identified farmers' adaptations to perceived climate change. Binary logit models were applied on data of 386 farmers, collected from three different agro-ecological zones of Punjab, Pakistan, to present a comprehensive analysis of different adaptation strategies missing in the existing literature. The coefficients of a binary logit model only explain the direction of change; therefore, to see the magnitude of change, marginal effects were also estimated. Findings revealed that farmers perceived climate change and opted different adaptation strategies. Results of binary logit models described age, education, farming experience, landholding, access to climate information, access to credit facilities, and access to extension services as important determinants of adaptation. This research also found lack of access to climate information, lack of irrigation resources, and knowledge about appropriate adaptations as key constraints in adaptation process. This situation can be improved by enhancing institutional support and capacity. It is suggested that improved agricultural education with better access to climate information and extension services affects the farmers' well-being directly and hence is good for the economy of Pakistan.

Public expenditures on adaptation to climate change have direct effects on budgets of governments. Such direct impacts on government budgetary allocation have been analyzed in the developed countries and very little research is available considering highly vulnerable and exposed developing countries which are facing huge threats of climate change. The current study is designed to bridge this information gap by examining the effects of climate change adaptation on public expenditures in Pakistan employing provincial level data over the period of 1990-2016. Adaptation expenditures included both overall government expenditures and expenditures on communal amenities and housing. In addition to a fixed effects estimation, we employed long difference model to analyze the impact in the long run. Results indicated that variations in temperature and rainfall were significantly related with public expenditures. Short run and long run scenarios showed that rising temperature caused an increase in public expenditures. The effect of rainfall on total public expenditure was positive and statistically significant while rainfall and expenditure incurred on communal amenities and housing were negatively related in the long run. The study posits important policy implications.

South Asia is comprised of several countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, all ranked highly at risk of climatic variability. The region's susceptibility to climate change can be attributed to both its spatial and inherent characteristics. Considering the countries' high dependence on agricultural products, to support their economies and growing populations, it is vital to measure the factors impacting crop productivity. This study quantifies the change in temperature and precipitation, coupled with their respective effects on the productivity of three major crops, wheat, rice and cotton, within two of Pakistan's largest provinces: Punjab and Sindh. Based on the collated data, multivariate regression analysis is conducted. Moreover, highly vulnerable areas to climate change have been identified under RCP scenarios 4.5 and 8.5, until the end of this century. Results reveal that there is a substantial increasing trend in temperature, whereas precipitation has high inter-annual variability. Regression outcomes, based on fixed/random effects models, indicate that temperature above threshold values of 24.3 °C, 33.0 °C and 32.0 °C for wheat, rice and cotton, respectively, negatively impacts productivity (statistically significant). Precipitation is statistically insignificant in explaining its role in crop productivity. Overall, the region is heading towards temperature and threshold exceedances at an alarming rate, which will impact the overall availability of suitable crop-growing areas.

Climate change has become the main domain in security and political studies. The main objectives of the present study is to analyse the impacts of climate change on Pakistan’s national security that is highly vulnerable in terms of climate change. Climate change is considered a grave non-traditional threat to the modern state system and its security. Climate change has become an essential non-traditional security realm that has immensely challenged Pakistan’s security. Rapidly changing climate is posing a great challenge and the threat to state machinery and increasing a security threat to Pakistan. The research seeks state’s policies in dealing with climate change and formulates the answers at national and international level which are absolutely essential for maintainable political and economic development of the state. Food crisis owing to climate crisis changing the societal behavior and undermining the nation building in recent time. Severe climate change is increasing vulnerability in agriculture, forests, water and live stocks, fisheries, forests etc. State institutions have done not much to adapt to climate change which makes the country more vulnerable. This research is significant because two heavy floods in Pakistan in 2010 and 2022 seriously challenged the country’s capability and extremely influenced the capacity of state and society. The research is conducted on qualitative and interpretative methodology to grasp the present study and to inquire that what are the identifiable security threats which emanating in the security environment of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding causes of interpersonal conflicts, related costs, and the effects on investment in agriculture are important concerns of social sciences. The present study was designed to explore these aspects in relation to climate change, since rising temperature and precipitation are considered crucial causal factors in fueling interpersonal conflicts. The study used cross-sectional data collected from rural farm households from a large district of Pakistani Punjab. Cost of conflicts was estimated using standard economic methods whereas factors affecting interpersonal conflicts were estimated through employing logit model. The study found that interpersonal conflicts cost US$135 per month for following the proceedings of the conflicts filed in the court. Households involved in conflicts spent significantly very few resources in purchasing farm inputs which in turn declined productivity of maize (28%) and sugarcane (19%). Warm temperature, precipitation, and windstorm were perceived by households as causal factors for interpersonal conflicts. Socioeconomic characteristics namely, farm size, livestock, family size, and high monthly income of household, were significantly associated with interpersonal conflicts. The study concludes important policy implications.

Climate change is bringing drastic changes to the food availability, accessibility, quality, and stability in the world. Pakistan heavily relies on production of wheat for food security. This study investigates the role of climate change on food security over Punjab regions, Pakistan, from 1979-2020. The study utilized the total production of wheat to measure food security. Moreover, the study utilized mean, maximum, minimum temperature, wind speed, and rainfall as a measurement of climate change. This study utilized auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound test cointegration approach to test the long-run cointegration, while ARDL model is applied to investigate the short-run relationship among modeled variables. This study adopted Augmented Dicky Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Parron (PP) test to check the stationarity of the data. Moreover, the study ensures reliability and validity of the model by utilizing Breusch-Godfrey serial correlation, Breusch-Pagan-Godfry HSK, and Ramsey RESET test. This study found that wheat cultivated area (0.46*), total irrigated area (2.67***), total un-irrigated area (1.93***), and total area sown ([1.0809**) have a positive and significant long-run impact on food production in all regions of Punjab Pakistan. However, while average, the maximum and minimum temperature is negatively and significantly associated with food production in all regions of Punjab (- 1.07**; - 3.33***; - 1.84**), except northern Punjab, where maximum temperature affects positively food production Punjab. Rainfall negatively and significantly affects food production in northern (- 0.34**) and central and southern (- 0.13***) Punjab. Furthermore, wind speed negatively affects food production in all regions of Punjab (- 0.22**; - 0.21*; - 0.11**), except northern Punjab. This study implies that government should develop policies to increase irrigation facilities and loan facilities to increase the total area sown that will help to increase wheat yield and ensure food security. Moreover, the government should devise policies for large-scale plantations to minimize climate change impacts. The study also suggests new improved varieties of the wheat crop that can survive and flourish in the presence of adverse climatic changes, high temperature, and high wind speed., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study investigates the impacts of climate change on yield of selected cereal crops (wheat and maize) in the northern climatic region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan for the period 1986-2015. The first-generation unit root tests such as the Levin, Lin, and Chu (LLC), augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF)-Fisher, and the second-generation unit root tests such as cross-sectional augmented Im-Pesaran-Shin (CIPS) and cross-sectional ADF (CADF) are used to check stationarity of the series. The cointegration among the variables is discovered via Pedroni test and Westerlund method. The long- and short-run impacts of climatic variables (average precipitation, maximum temperature, and minimum temperature) on yield of wheat and maize crops are assessed through the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The empirical findings reveal that average precipitation has a significantly positive impact on yield of both crops in long- as well as short-run. The results further reveal that the effect of average minimum temperature on both crops is insignificant in long-run. However, the short-run effect of average minimum temperature is significantly positive on yield of maize crop but insignificant on yield of wheat crop. In long-run, an increase in average maximum temperature negatively affects crop yield. In short-run, however, it positively affects the yield of wheat and maize crops. The study recommends that increase in area under cultivation, development of advanced irrigation system, and farmers' access to metrological information will help in lowering the drastic impacts of climate change on crop productivity., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

There is a growing interest in studying the determinants of climate change concern, but there are few studies conducted on developing countries like Pakistan. This study has three objectives. Firstly, to find whether there are differences in climate change concern levels between Pakistani citizens residing in rural and urban areas. Secondly, whether climate change concern is influenced by the same or different factors in rural and urban areas. Finally, whether the religious denomination one adheres to plays a role. The 2015 database provided by Pew Research Center, a representative sample of the Pakistani population, is used, and ordered logit models are run by including the independent variables in steps. The main finding is that the place of residency matters: rural residents show higher levels of concern than their urban counterparts. Climate change concern is influenced in both areas of residence by the gender of the respondent: females are more concerned than males. Nonetheless, there are differences in other determinants of climate change concern in rural and urban areas, for example, the education level, which affects mainly rural citizens. The religious denomination affects the concern of rural residents: Sunni Muslims show higher levels of climate change concern than Shi'a Muslims. Recommendations include the implementation of policies aiming to increase the education level in rural areas and the incorporation of courses and curricular or extra-curricular activities that would promote more concern among high school students., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.)

China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is very significant project owing to its development in Pakistan and China. It is evident that this project is promoting sustainable development in both countries in many ways. The objective of this research paper is to study about the sustainability of CPEC in adopting the environment related initiatives. It has been argued that CPEC is a difference maker in terms of improving infrastructure, protecting environment and boosting of the trade between Beijing and Islamabad. That is why, both nations have adopted multi-dimensional initiatives to save the environment. However, there is need to improve this process. Still there are many environmental challenges to this significant project. Considering the development under this project both Pakistan and China aspire to engage in clean energy cooperation to ensure sustainable environment. Both countries need to formulate guidelines and protocols for a green investment project roadmap to address the challenges of sustainable environment which are still missing at the policy level. By employing qualitative methods based on research material from secondary sources, this research aims to study the initiatives taken by Pakistan to make CPEC an ecofriendly and environmentally sustainable project. This is evident that CPEC project experience moderate but short term environment challenges due major infrastructure reforms. Furthermore, these environmental challenges are stern and can create hindrance in economic development for Pakistan and China if certain environmental regulations could not be adopted. This paper recommends that both states needs to adopt concrete, composite, bilateral environmental cooperation for the sustainability of CPEC project for durable time frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores to evaluate how Pakistan's agriculture is affected by climate change and to find techniques to mitigate and adapt to the changes. Pakistan's agriculture industry is drastically affected by climate change. The continuous inclination of temperature, shifting weather patterns, and more frequent climate change events are remarkably reducing crop yields, compromising food security and posing serious threats to rural livelihood. In order to evaluate the effects of climate change on agricultural output, water resources, and controlling pests, this study sought farmers in liable areas, reviewed a variety of literature in detail, and examined climate data. The paper also founds critical declines in crop yields, changes in developing seasons, and expanded irritation and sickness pressure. Farmers were observed using more groundwater, which resulted in a shortage of water and less fertile land. Pakistan needs to prioritize climateresilient agricultural techniques, raise farmer awareness and capacity building, improve water management, and encourage crop variety to ensure agricultural sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, climatic change challenges, consumer expectations, and concerns toward sustainability lead firms to consider responsible strategies for internal marketing and entrepreneurial orientation that contribute to competitive advantage and economic and environmental performance. This paper analyses the direct impact of internal marketing and entrepreneurial orientation on innovation and sustainability within the context of family businesses in the manufacturing sector in bakeries in Sindh Province in Pakistan. Information and data were obtained from 404 questionnaires applied in these firms during 2023. The methods include Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling to evaluate the measurement, structural models, and respective variables. Results confirm a significant direct influence of internal marketing on entrepreneurial orientation and innovation towards the sustainability of bakeries firms and emphasise the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation toward sustainability. Despite that, the firms haven't improved significantly sustainable production practices during the last three years. On the other hand, the unit cost of bakery production hasn't decreased during this period due to the reduction of energy or water use. Other results also confirm a significant concern with the customer's needs, but without putting in practice more quality in the production process or reducing the relative production costs (at constant prices). However, bakeries firms must directly address sustainability in all production and customer sales processes, namely reducing energy inputs and meeting consumers' needs concerning sustainable needs and goals. This study's significance lies in its contribution to the existing body of literature by illuminating the intricate pathway of relationships between internal marketing, entrepreneurial orientation toward sustainability, and innovation and sustainability. A future direction involves extending this model's applicability by examining its validity in other industries and service sectors, enriching the breadth of understanding beyond manufacturing industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of climate change is one of the most defining issues of our time. Both developed and underdeveloped states of the world are equally under its menace. In the last two decades, some of the first-world countries, like China, have taken tremendous steps to minimize their effects on their region. Pakistan, in the year 2022, witnessed an unprecedented flood owing to a massive rainfall that hit its biggest province, Balochistan. Notwithstanding, Pakistan undoubtedly, at this stage of economic stagnation, needs foreign support to overcome such disasters. A qualitative based approach was used to analyse the literature based on the climate change in the perspective of Pakistan and China. For the analysis of the extracted data conceptual analysis was used. The platform of CPEC can be practically utilized by employing Chinese models and measures in Pakistan's most neglected and affected province, Balochistan. The Chinese model of dams in Balochistan will be highly beneficial and helpful not only for flood dismantlement but also for the storage of adequate water in case of any massive drought. This paper sheds light on the theme of how Pakistan can learn from the Chinese model to address the problem of climate change in its most neglected region, Balochistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate change becomes a primary driver of global ecosystem deterioration and biodiversity loss, protected areas (PAs) are posed to play a crucial conservation role. At a global scale, 17 % of land is currently covered by PAs; a figure expected to reach 30 % by 2030 under the UN post-2020 global biodiversity framework. However, focusing only on the percent coverage of PAs without assessing their efficacy may not accomplish the intended conservation goals. Here, we present the first assessment of the risk from climate change to existing PAs and non-protected lands across Pakistan by combining data on the local exposure and vulnerability of 409 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians to multidimensional changes in climate by mid (2040-2060) and late (2061-2080) century under two climate emission scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). We find that between 7 % (2050 RCP4.5) and 19 % (2080 RCP8.5) of the current network of PAs, mostly located in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country, are projected to be under future extreme risk (i.e., highly exposed areas containing highly vulnerable communities). Importantly, hotspots of risk within these PAs are projected to significantly expand over time and with increasing severity of the scenario. In contrast, PAs in the northern part of the country are projected to remain under moderate to low risk. Results are subject to variability across the country reflecting interesting differences in climate change exposure and species vulnerability between protected and non-protected lands. Importantly, significantly lower level of risks from future climate change are projected for PAs than non-protected lands across emission scenarios and periods suggesting potential candidate areas for the future expansion of the country's PA network. Our analysis provides novel insights that can help inform conservation decisions and management at a time when the country is investing in ambitious efforts to expand its network of protected areas., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Pakistan and India have been repeatedly enlisted as the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Both countries face a series of common environmental issues owing to climate change, smog, drought and floods, to name a few. However, since the Uri attack in 2016, India has virtually suspended SAARC by not participating in annual summits. Since then, stern gridlock has been witnessed in bilateral relations between Pakistan and India. In this regard, the first half of the paper highlights common environmental issues faced by Pakistan and India and later suggests areas of cooperation to overcome these challenges. The qualitative analysis shows that common environmental challenges faced by Pakistan and India provide an opportunity to break the ice between two neighbouring yet antagonist countries and rejuvenate the bilateral dialogue process. The paper aims to highlight the importance of cooperation over common environmental challenges, which has the potential to end the deadlock between Pakistan and India and spillover cooperation in other areas of common interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability in cotton production is inevitable because producing more cotton means more employment, economic acceleration, and industrial expansion. India, China, the United States, Brazil, and Pakistan contribute 74% of worldwide cotton production. Pakistan is contributing only 5%, despite the high potential of cotton. The average yield of cotton in Pakistan is stagnant at 570.99 kg hm−2, whereas it entails the highest cost of production among all other crops. The yield obtained in Pakistan is less than the potential, profitability is drastically lessening, and farmers are abandoning cotton for alternative kharif crops. Some traditional quantitative studies have unveiled different factors that affect cotton production. However, an in-depth qualitative study has never been conducted in Pakistan to explore the root causes of growing cotton crop failure. Following Moustakas's traditional phenomenological guidelines, this phenomenological study was conducted in the district of Rahim Yar Khan in the core cotton zone of Punjab province. A total of 10 interviews were conducted with purposively selected cotton growers based on a criterion: (i) having more than 10 years of cotton growing experience, (ii) being a cotton grower, and (iii) having at least 10 years of formal schooling. Interviews were conducted face to face on an interview guide. One interview lasted 45–50 min, and responses were recorded and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. A total of 6 themes emerged from the collected data, including (i) climate change, (ii) varietal problems, (iii) pesticide usage, (iv) sense of institutional services, (v) attitude of farmers and (vi) soil health and environment. These six merging themes contributed to cotton crop failure and yield decline. The deep exploration further summarized that researchers, extensionists, and farmers need to seriously consider variety, sowing time, and the environment to revive cotton crops. The detailed recommendations and policy guidelines are presented in this paper, highlighting the cotton sector's research, development and investment areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western disturbances (WDs) are synoptic-scale weather systems embedded within the subtropical westerly jet. Manifesting as upper-level troughs often associated with a lower-tropospheric low over Western India, they share some dynamical features with extratropical cyclones. WDs are most common during the boreal winter (December to March), during which they bring the majority of precipitation – both rain and snow – to the Western Himalaya, as well as to surrounding areas of north India, Pakistan and the Tibetan Plateau. WDs are also associated with weather hazards such as heavy snowfall, hailstorms, fog, cloudbursts, avalanches, frost, and coldwaves. In this paper, we review the recent understanding and development on WDs. Recent studies have collectively made use of novel data, novel analysis techniques, and the increasing availability of high-resolution weather and climate models. This review is separated into six main sections – structure and thermodynamics, precipitation and impacts, teleconnections, modelling experiments, forecasting at a range of scales, and paleoclimate and climate change – each motivated with a brief discussion of the accomplishments and limitations of previous research. A number of step changes in understanding are synthesised. Use of new modelling frameworks and tracking algorithms has significantly improved knowledge of WD structure and variability, and a more frequentist approach can now be taken. Improved observation systems have helped quantification of water security over the Western Himalaya. Convection-permitting models have improved our understanding of how WDs interact with the Himalayas to trigger natural hazards. Improvements in paleoclimate and future climate modelling experiments have helped to explain how WDs and their impacts over the Himalaya respond to large-scale natural and anthropogenic forcings. We end by summarising unresolved questions and outlining key future WD research topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change induced disasters have increased in frequency and intensity threatening economic wellbeing of businesses and communities. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) being integral part of communities makes bulk (90%) of the economic activities around the globe, 96% in Asia and 99% of in Pakistan. In disaster context, survival, recovery and resilience of MSMEs are central to realization of community's survival, recovery and wellbeing. Small businesses are marred by liability of smallness characterized by limited resources, informal structure and unity of its ownership and management. SMEs are mostly dependent on entrepreneur's capabilities and resources for management, survival and growth. Some scholar suggest that in MSME context, among other factors entrepreneur's competencies, psychological and social capitals play a pivotal role in enabling organizational resilience and their disaster performance. Recently few studies have emerged focusing on investigating the impact of various entrepreneurial specific capabilities, resources and mechanisms either on firm resilience or firm performance separately in natural disaster and pandemic context. However, investigating the impact of these on MSME disaster recovery performance in an integrated model seems to be still missing. To address the gap, a study was designed to examine the relationship between entrepreneur's psychological capital, organizational resilience and MSME disaster recovery performance (MSME-DRP). An empirical quantitative study, grounded in multi-theory perspective, the propositions were explored by collecting data through questionnaire survey from 225 valid responses from flood effected District of Nowshera, Pakistan. Findings revealed that PsyCap significantly and positively impact MSME's disaster recovery performance. Results further highlighted significant partial mediation by organizational resilience, while it having significantly positive effect on recovery as direct mechanism as well. The paper contributes to the existing streamof research on organizational resilience and organizational disaster performance in broader strategicmanagement literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Carbon accretion in the atmosphere is having widespread climatic impacts on Pakistan like reduced agricultural productivity, water shortage, and coastal erosion, etc. Tormented with a poor economy, any abrupt scarcity of livelihood resources can breed violence, crime, communal tensions, and a threat to national security. Encumbered by the financial and technical deficit, Pakistan is facing considerable challenges for crafting a pragmatic climate security regime. Significant divergence in the public and academic opinion on the nature of this threat have attributed to a sluggish policy response so far. This paper, therefore, focuses on Pakistan's Carbon dilemma and critically examines its treatment in national climate policies. It calls for an integrated approach across multiple sectors and mainstreaming of a national security policy with climate-smart infrastructure that assimilates core national security resources. It further calls for political discourses that encompass food, energy, agriculture, health, and even diplomacy to overcome this national threat. Towards the end, this paper proffers some recommendations to mitigate threats to our climate security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is among the countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change. The country has experienced severe floods and droughts during recent decades. The agricultural sector in Pakistan is adversely affected by climate change. This systematic review paper set out to analyze the existing literature on adaptation measures at the farm level toward climate change in Pakistan. Adopting a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method, a total of 62 articles were identified from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The review paper indicates that the main adaptation strategies adopted by farmers are as follows: changing cropping practices, changing farm management techniques, advanced land use management practices, and nonagriculture livelihood options. Further, this review shows the factors influencing the farmer's adaptation measures to climate change. Influencing factors were examined and classified into three groups: demographic, socioeconomic, and resources and institutional. Barriers hindering farmers' adaptive capacity were identified as lack of access to information and knowledge, lack of access to extension services, lack of access to credit facility, and lack of farm resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an effort of geo-statistical analysis of rainfall variability and trend detection in the eastern Hindu Kush region located in the north-west of Pakistan. The eastern section of the HK region lies in the western part of Pakistan. Exploring rainfall variability and quantifying its trend and magnitude is one of the key indicators among all climatic parameters. In the study area, Pakistan Meteorology Department (PMD) has established seven meteorological stations: Drosh, Chitral, Dir, Timergara, Saidu Sharif, Malam Jabba, and Kalam. Daily, mean monthly, and mean annual rainfall time series data for all the met stations were geo-statistically analyzed in the GIS environment for detecting monthly and annual variability in rainfall, variability, and trend detection. Mann-Kendall (MK) and Theil-Sen's slope (TSS) statistical tests were applied to rainfall data. Initially, the MK test was applied for detection of trends and TSS test was used to quantify the change in magnitude. The results indicate that the rainfall variability in intensity and trend pattern detection. The analysis confirms that an extremely significant rainfall trend in the case of mean annual rainfall was predicted at Dir and Malam Jabba meteorological stations. Opposite to this, at Kalam and Chitral stations, a less significant rainfall trend was noted. In a similar context, no prominent rainfall trend has been found at Drosh, Timergara, and Saidu Sharif meteorological stations. Likewise, using TSS, an extremely negative variation in the magnitude of rainfall was verified at Kalam and Malam Jabba. However, a noteworthy positive change in rainfall magnitude has been noted at Dir and Saidu Sharif meteorological stations. The findings of this research have the potential to assist the decision and policy makers and academicians to think truly and conduct more scientific research studies to mitigate climate change., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Pakistan is facing chronic energy crises since many years. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current status of energy efficiency and conservation practices at organizational level in Pakistan. The first phase of this study evaluates the trends in electricity consumption in selected buildings over the last six years (2017-2022). Subsequently, a survey was conducted in selected buildings to assess employee morale and knowledge of energy efficiency and conservation. Results show an insignificant change in electricity consumption in selected buildings during the past six year's period indicating a poor culture of energy savings in the selected organization. Despite a constant electricity consumption from 2017 to 2022, a significant fluctuation in average billing amounts was observed. This is possibly due to electricity tariff that has continuously been fluctuating since last few years in Pakistan including Karachi. Study reveals that more than 50% of the employees in selected organization were aware about the importance of energy efficiency and conservation however, they rarely practice the energy saving measures during their routine activities. This is perhaps due to the lack of sense of national stewardship among the employees. It was also found that most of the employees of the selected organization are aware and motivated towards the environmental and climate change concerns related to energy production and its efficient use. However, again a small number of employees were found practicing the energy conservation and efficiency measures. According to this study, companies should encourage staff members to save energy by offering frequent trainings and educational opportunities. Additionally, the organizations ought to think about switching to renewable energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nexus between climate change and military security is essentially non-existent in Pakistan's security discourse. The paper argues for the connection between these two sectors - from the Copenhagen School framework of security - and presents how threats from climate change threaten Pakistan's military security. Most notable threats, in severity and frequency, are sea level rise, cyclone risks, drastic floods, warming patterns, and glacial melting. Sea level rise and cyclone risks impact naval assets and infrastructure while warming patterns and glacial melting affect troop movement, deployments, and logistics. Resultantly, military training, force capacity, and operational readiness is affected. Threats are more potent in strategically significant locations (Siachen, Sindh, and Punjab) which house important forward military bases. The paper provides actionable recommendations that create foundations for future steps as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a perspective, about the future climate policy of Pakistan, to improve the harvest of Green Climate Funds (GCF). This paper takes upon the calculation of climate financing potential in the context of the energy sector of Pakistan by estimating the potential of becoming a net-zero sector in Pakistan's Economy. The study has identified several options for the government to reallocate the energy mix and tie the energy demand targets with climate targets for a green future of Pakistan. The study has used basic excel tools to calculate facts from the available data sets in Pakistan. The study found that, if Pakistan chooses to shift from dirty sources of energy production to the use of cleaner inputs for energy production, Pakistan can generate a significant amount of climate finance by reducing the emissions from energy production, which are recordable, traceable, and can be evaluated by any of the third-party evaluating organization. The initial cost for Pakistan will cause some discrepancies in some of the macroeconomic indicators and may also cause budget imbalances it will surely help the economy to achieve the targets of becoming a net-zero economy and be able to harvest Green Climate Funds in long term with much faster rate, which can overpass the investments made or being made in this sector and will create a significant amount jobs in the economy, which will be green jobs, promoting environmental friendly output and sustainable growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interconnection between economic development, fervid crossovers in the frame of contagious diseases, and environmental problems, in particular, have, until now, seen less scrutiny from environmental economists. Empirical evidence suggests that great economic recessions have proven to affect the prioritization of environmental and climate protection. The current study surveys the perception of the residents of Lahore, Pakistan regarding their environmental perception and awareness of climate change issues at the time of post-COVID-19 economic recession. Furthermore, the present study investigates several economic factors including the impact of economic recession influencing the environmental behavior of mainstream society. A cross-sectional quantitative research design was utilized to gather data from 343 respondents belonging to a public university in Pakistan. To statistically analyze the date, chi square test and multinomial logistic regression was utilized to examine significant economic factors associated with environmental behaviors. The findings reveal that climate change is viewed as one of the main ecological problems in Lahore, Pakistan. Furthermore, significant association was found between individual's socioeconomic background and impact of economic recession with their prioritization of climate action. The present research has several implications as identifying rising challenges of economic and climaterelated threats can aid in adopting a more dynamic approach to strategic and structural investments. The current paper suggests robust policy interventions against financial instability to ensure collective as well as individual effort against climate change for a stable and sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this study, climate change and human impacts on water quality in five major urban areas of Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Abbottabad, and Gilgit, were determined. Secondary data on various physical, chemical, and bacteriological water quality parameters were taken from published papers, reports, and theses. Surface and groundwater were the major sources of drinking water in these cities. The physicochemical parameters were total turbidity, pH, dissolved solids (TDS), sulphates, chlorides, calcium, sodium, HCO3, potassium, magnesium, nitrates, fluorides, arsenic, and hardness. The bacteriological parameters were total coliform, total faecal coliform, and total plate counts. The data revealed that pH, TDS, fluoride, chloride, HCO3, sodium, and hardness were above the limits in Karachi. MCB Market, Goth Ibrahim, and Malir Town were the main contaminated areas in Karachi. In Lahore, arsenic was found above the limits in all sampling locations. Turbidity, pH, HCO3, calcium, magnesium, and hardness were found above the limits in Peshawar. In Gilgit city, all physicochemical parameters were found within the limits except turbidity, which was 10 NTU in Nomal valley. Nitrates were higher in the water sources in Abbottabad. Bacterial contamination was found in the water of all five cities. Most of the studies revealed that this contamination could be human-induced. The improper disposal of solid waste, sewage, and animal waste and the excessive use of fertilisers deteriorate the quality of the water. Precipitation, a rise in temperature, and seasonal variation are climate variables that affect water quality and are responsible for major outbreaks of waterborne diseases. There is an urgent need for regular analysis, proper management, and proper treatment of drinking water before it is supplied to the local community in these cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study summarizes the media coverage of climate change in Pakistan. Pakistan is among the most climate-vulnerable countries, which leaves a long-lasting impression on the already crippling economy along with other issues. Climate communication is a crucial need of this hour. Media needs to play an important part in guiding people about their role in climate preservation to lessen the impacts. Various studies have been done on this issue to learn the media's role in climate change awareness in Pakistan. This research implies systematic literature review using studies from the last 15 years i.e., 2009 to 2023. The study concludes that Pakistani media did not have sufficient coverage of climate issues due to various issues like illiteracy, lack of infrastructure for reporting, lower rating and editorial preferences. It is recommended that media needs to design special programs and dedicate more time to climate reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2022 has served as a recall for the impact that climate change has in the South Asian region, which is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate shock. With a paucity of climate-based and geospatial observational studies in South Asia, this paper (i) links power sectors and carbon dioxide emissions, (ii) maps nitrogen dioxide density across three countries (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh), (iii) understands electricity generation trends and projects weather changes through 2100. We monitored data monitored between 1995 and 2021. The following databases were used: the International Energy Agency, the World Bank, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. Raw data was obtained for climate indicators, which were entered into Microsoft Excel. Geospatial trends were generated in the ArcGIS geostatistical tool by adopting the ordinary kriging method to interpolate and create continuous surfaces depicting the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the three countries. We found increased usage of coal and fossil fuels in three countries (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh). Both were significant contributors to carbon dioxide emissions. The geographic localities in South Asia were densely clouded with nitrogen dioxide as reported with the tropospheric column mapping. There are expected to be increased days with a heat index >35 °C, and consecutive dry days from 2020 and 2100. We also found increased chances of flooding in certain regions across the three countries. This study monitored climate change indicators and projects between 1995 and 2100. Lastly, we make recommendations to improve the relationship of the environment and living beings.

New media enables open communication about climate change and natural hazards due to its increasing and widespread usage among its users. This article aims to investigate the use of new media for information and communication about climate change and natural hazards and examine women's perception of its role in creating awareness about climate change. Based on mixed methods, quantitative data was collected by administering 384 paper-based questionnaires to female university students in Pakistan. For qualitative data, in-depth interviews of experts in one or more of the relevant research areas were also conducted. The findings of the study reveal that new media is a widely used source by literate women to gather information. Reading online newspapers by the respondents for climate change and natural hazards ranked first, followed by social networking sites, YouTube, blogs, emails, and listening to podcast/online radio. Female respondents agreed that new media is playing a major role in providing updated information about climate change and its causes and consequences. The findings of the study also revealed that media is educating people in dealing with climate change. However, educating women was deemed lesser in importance than reporting on climate politics. INSET: 79. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water resources in Pakistan are sharply declining due to average annual increase in population and the changing geo-political landscape. The long term resolution lies in cautious expenditure of water and consciousness to preserve. This resource consciousness ultimately derives strategies for better management of water and its associated usage as both together can have far reaching effects for consumption of water and its use for electricity production as mainstay of Pakistan's energy needs. The authors have made an earnest endeavor to notify the significance of fresh water, rapid depletion of its resources and the serious hazards affiliated with this phenomenon. The research paper encompasses a detailed evaluation of available statistics of water flow in the river system, its storage in glaciers and manmade reservoirs. The paper also dilates upon challenges linked with climate change, water shortages, insufficient storage capacities and weak management of available resources. Towards the end, the author has offered a way forward to make best use of available resources and ensure water security in the country. This is an academic undertaking; therefore, the views articulated in the article are those of the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region of Pakistan are highly vulnerable to climate change. Capacity building of local communities is integral to adopt an evolving strategy to address adverse effects of climate change. This paper examines the significance of adaptive capacity through training and orientations and its efficacy to address climate induced hazards. Data from remittance receiving 246 households in treatment group and 247 households in control group were collected from selected villages of Districts Hunza and Nagar in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The difference in difference (DiD) method was used to examine the impact of the intervention—adaptation and effects. The results of the study revealed that enhanced capacity building of local communities in terms of financial literacy, investment in flood preparedness and adoption of disaster risk reduction have significant impact and corelation with improved resilient planning strategies and practices. The study recommends further actions, trainings and to governmental and non-governmental organizations to emphasize on proper utilization of remittances and to orient the mountain communities about proper plans and actions to mitigate the climate change impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazards are dynamic and unpredictable events that are a continuous threat to global socio-economic development. Humans' reactions to these catastrophes are influenced by their proximity to the hazards and their ability to anticipate, resist, cope with, and recover from their consequences. Due to climatic changes, the risk of multiple natural hazards is expected to increase in several regions of Pakistan. There is a pressing need to understand the spatial discrepancies of natural hazards due to climate change and identifying the regions that require special measures to increase resilience, achieve adaptation, and sustainable development goals. This paper synthesizes the related literature to understand spatial variations of natural hazards due to climate changes across Pakistan. The Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), National Aeronautics and Space Administration Global Landslide Catalog (NASA-GLC), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) are utilized to analyze spatial discrepancies and vulnerabilities to natural hazards. This study unveils that Pakistan's current risk analysis and management strategies seem to be obsolete compared to global trends. Because of spatial variations of hazards, most research work on hazard risk assessments and risk management focuses on a single hazard, neglecting the co-occurrence impact of different natural hazards. Very limited studies are included in comprehensive multi-hazard risk strategies. Therefore, in Pakistan, risk management would require integrated multi-hazard risk assessment approaches to detect, analyze, measure, and evaluate various natural hazards, their effects, and interconnections. Moreover, the Pakistan governmental institutes dealing with natural hazards should focus on pre-disaster mitigation and resilience techniques instead of investing only in post-disaster relief activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Pakistan, one of the most significant celebrations on the Muslim calendar, Eid al‐ Azha (Feast of the Sacrifice), is marked by two major rituals. At the center of the festival is the animal slaughter remembering the prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. The second, dating to Pakistan's earliest days as a nation, is the collection of animal hides from the sacrifice. NGOs, political parties, and madrasas annually compete to collect and auction the sacrificial skins. This paper examines how Alkhidmat Foundation–the social welfare branch of the Islamist party Jama'at‐e‐Islami–invests in a risky fundraising ritual that animates the value of sacrifice in their humanitarian work. While historically the auction of animal hides has been lucrative, over the last decade, the income has come under threat due to the rise of synthetic leathers on the global market, inflation, and climate change, which have left Pakistan's leather commodity in peril and, with it, the fate of a major source of income for the country's social services. Pakistan's skins collection offers insight into a fundraising practice that instantiates sacrifice writ large: of time, safety, and resources, and sometimes, of intimate relations. Sacrifice is the motivating value that underpins dedication to the annual hide collection and articulates Alkhidmat's humanitarianism through the human capability of sacrifice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production is under threat due to climate change in food insecure regions, especially in Asian countries. Various climate-driven extremes, i.e., drought, heat waves, erratic and intense rainfall patterns, storms, floods, and emerging insect pests have adversely affected the livelihood of the farmers. Future climatic predictions showed a significant increase in temperature, and erratic rainfall with higher intensity while variability exists in climatic patterns for climate extremes prediction. For mid-century (2040-2069), it is projected that there will be a rise of 2.8 °C in maximum temperature and a 2.2 °C in minimum temperature in Pakistan. To respond to the adverse effects of climate change scenarios, there is a need to optimize the climate-smart and resilient agricultural practices and technology for sustainable productivity. Therefore, a case study was carried out to quantify climate change effects on rice and wheat crops and to develop adaptation strategies for the rice-wheat cropping system during the mid-century (2040-2069) as these two crops have significant contributions to food production. For the quantification of adverse impacts of climate change in farmer fields, a multidisciplinary approach consisted of five climate models (GCMs), two crop models (DSSAT and APSIM) and an economic model [Trade-off Analysis, Minimum Data Model Approach (TOAMD)] was used in this case study. DSSAT predicted that there would be a yield reduction of 15.2% in rice and 14.1% in wheat and APSIM showed that there would be a yield reduction of 17.2% in rice and 12% in wheat. Adaptation technology, by modification in crop management like sowing time and density, nitrogen, and irrigation application have the potential to enhance the overall productivity and profitability of the rice-wheat cropping system under climate change scenarios. Moreover, this paper reviews current literature regarding adverse climate change impacts on agricultural productivity, associated main issues, challenges, and opportunities for sustainable productivity of agriculture to ensure food security in Asia. Flowing opportunities such as altering sowing time and planting density of crops, crop rotation with legumes, agroforestry, mixed livestock systems, climate resilient plants, livestock and fish breeds, farming of monogastric livestock, early warning systems and decision support systems, carbon sequestration, climate, water, energy, and soil smart technologies, and promotion of biodiversity have the potential to reduce the negative effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is highly exposed to increasing threats of climate crisis. Despite growing climatic pressures nationwide, the climate coping mechanisms of the country are extremely weak. This study analyses the process of climate change mainstreaming into Pakistan's national policy processes by deploying the Action on Climate Today (ACT) Framework consisting three pillars: the entry points, enabling environment and political economy drivers. This is blended with the theoretical assumptions of New-Institutionalism that helps in examining key institutional and policy responses to climate change at all governmental levels of Pakistan. It argues that the mainstreaming of climate change into Pakistan's national, provincial, and sectoral socio-economic development policies, planning and implementation processes will enhance the country's resilience against growing climatic challenges. There is meager literature on mainstreaming climate change on Pakistan and this study attempts to fill this gap. The study maps vulnerabilities, challenges and options of mainstreaming climate in planning and policy making of the country. It concludes that despite setting national and international goals regarding climate resilience, there remains an extensive gap between legislative aims and implementation of national policies in Pakistan that needs to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is an agricultural country and its population continues to grow rapidly at an alarming pace. The agricultural sector is playing a vital role in strengthening the economy of the country. Apart from traditional cereals cultivation, climatic conditions of Pakistan are feasible and appropriate for the cultivation of temperate, tropical and subtropical fruits. Thus, diverse environmental conditions allow the farmers to cultivate a variety of fruits which ultimately uplifting the burden from traditionally cultivated crops. In recent years, the cultivation and yield of different fruit trees are declining in the country. The key contributors to the decline in fruit crop yield include abiotic stresses, biotic stresses, certain pathogens and nematodes, market devaluation and access, urbanization, poor gardening, poverty climate change, small landholdings, exogenous factors and managerial decisions, etc. So, to counter these fruit yield declining factors the use of advanced molecular markers is a handy option for the improvement of the fruit germplasm in Pakistan. Additionally, they also have diverse applications in the area of genetic diversity, varietal identification studies, hybrid detection, disease diagnostics and sex differentiation by administering the powerful diagnostic polymorphism detection tools at specific loci and the genome level. This review focuses on exploring the application, recent advancements and future implications of DNA-based molecular markers with the context of their role in the genetic improvement of fruit germplasm that is widely grown in Pakistan like citrus, apples, mangoes, guavas, bananas, date palms and peaches, etc. Furthermore, by offering a piece of scientific information and addressing developments, notably in DNA-based molecular markers, this review paper may serve as a road map for obtaining high-yielding fruit varieties in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim of this study is to quantify the impacts of climate change on phenology and yield of winter wheat in rainfed and irrigated regions of Pakistan by using integration of two well-known crop models including STICS and APSIM with CORDEX-SA regional climate models (RCMs). A number of different adaptation strategies based on early sowing (i.e. S1:10 and S2:20 days), irrigation (I1:15% and I2:30% additional water) and a combination of sowing and irrigation adaptations were examined to recover the potential losses that would occur due to climate change. The data for the wheat phenology, biomass (t/ha) at different stages and yield (t/ha) was obtained from several experiments at national research institutes in Pakistan under both rainfed and irrigated conditions. After calibration and validation of both crop models (STICS and APSIM), the current climate data were replaced with the CORDEX-SA RCM-projections for climate change impact analysis. A significant rising and declining trends were observed in temperature and precipitation patterns, respectively, for the selected study regions. Consequently, a substantial impact of climate change on wheat phenology (anthesis stage, maturity stage, growing length), biomass (t/ha) and yield (t/ha) was observed under scenario periods for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Additionally, the adaptation strategies on wheat for rainfed regions showed a substantial improvement in wheat biomass and yield simulated by STICS model particularly for sowing-2 under RCP4.5. Irrigated regions showed more improvement for irrigation-2 (I2) and combination of sowing-1 + irrigation-2 (S1 + I2) using the STICS model under both RCPs. Overall, it was observed that changes in crop phenology had a stronger impact in terms of crop yield for RCP8.5 as compare to RCP4.5. This study provides a valuable understanding and way forward for the better wheat management under changes in precipitation and temperature patterns. The study also discuss in detail, the adaptation strategies to cope with potential damage, over two different irrigation zones (rainfed and irrigated) in Pakistan., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Agriculture is one of the primary contributors to Pakistan's economy. However, over the last few decades, the atmospheric carbon dioxide emission has been amplified to a great extent in Pakistan. This amplification may cause climate change, global warming, and environmental mitigation in Pakistan. This paper empirically investigates the impact of CO2 emissions on the agricultural export trade of Pakistan over the period 1975–2017. Evidence suggests that climate change could be a primary cause for the decline in Pakistan's agriculture export trade; no studies have been carried out for this specific issue, particularly over time. In this paper, the empirical analysis suggests the negative coefficient of agriculture export trade with CO2 emissions subsequently decreases agriculture export trade, which leads to direct impact on Pakistan's economy. Both theoretical and empirical outcomes suggest that the adaptation of clean and green energies and technologies are the key to reduce pollution in Pakistan. Overall, the effects of carbon dioxide emissions on agriculture export trade are stronger in the long‐run dynamics, thus making the finding heterogeneous. Possible initiatives should be taken by the government of Pakistan to improve the agriculture sector and it should also introduce new policies to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse climate changes in Pakistan undermine the water resources and give rise to transient and permanent droughts in different parts of the country. The occurrence of drought cannot be prevented, but its detrimental impacts can be brought down by proper pre‐drought planning. Effective planning owes to using scientific and probabilistic approaches. In this paper, the interarrival time of drought for seven operational drought indices in Pakistan is modelled by using the modified distribution of convolution derived from the Bivariate Affine Linear Exponential (BALE) distribution. A new stochastic variable, interarrival time of drought, is generated from the data of drought indices from 1951 to 2016 used in Pakistan by applying the theory of runs. The proposed model identifies Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) and Reconnaissance drought index (RDI) as the most appropriate meteorological indices for the under‐study country. The quantiles of the model are computed that provide information about the interarrival time of drought and help to anticipate this phenomenon. In addition, return periods for all the seven indices are calculated to report the frequency and duration of drought over a certain period. Finally, some recommendations for the National Drought Monitoring Centre (NDMC) and Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) are stated for better future planning to avoid the adverse impacts of drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Indian independence movement, the Urdu-language ethnic newspapers played a significant role in instigating resistance against colonial authorities within local communities. However, later on, Urdu journalism underwent a transformation, shifting from the 'advocate-journalist' model to one dominated by corporate ownership in Pakistan. These commercial agents have faced criticism for using journalism as a shield for their other businesses, yet their presence has profoundly impacted current newspaper practices in various ways. Our case study of the Daily Express reveals that this newspaper, by implementing innovative journalism, technological advancements and efficient management practices, has influenced both preceding and subsequent Urdu dailies, transforming Pakistani newspapers into a modern print media industry. Despite these advancements, the impacts of corporate concerns also include a lack of adequate coverage on various human development issues and science-related topics, posing risks to the attractiveness of such papers for the reading public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the challenging tasks for governments is to curtail the production and consumption of single-use plastic bags. Despite multiple advantages of plastic and its ubiquity, the environmental damage of single-use plastic bags is irreversible. However, policy intervention by the governments is also a need of the time to reduce its production and consumption. This study provides a strategic analysis of government policy options regarding the ban on single-use plastic production in Pakistan. A game-theoretic model is developed to examine the behavior of plastic bag producers vis-à-vis the government's climate change policy. The study concludes that game theory is very effective in analyzing the efficient promulgation and productive implementation of environmental management policy regarding banning single-use plastic in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is severely damaging the agricultural system of many food producing regions worldwide. Small/subsistent livestock herders are the most vulnerable and less resilient group towards climatic disasters within South Asian region including Pakistan. The adoption of climate-smart practices would be beneficial for small livestock herders because of its potential to ensure food security, improve income, and sustain development simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors influencing small livestock herders' adaptation decisions towards changing climate by conducting field-based research. We intend to understand how institutional factors, risk perceptions, adaptations, and personal constraints affect the adaptation decisions related to climate change mitigation and choice of adaptation strategies. For this purpose, a primary data set of 405 small livestock herders from Punjab, Pakistan was used. The regression results of empirical models reveal the probability of adopting specific climate change strategies. The study results showed that zero adaptation (non-adoption) to climate change is higher when there is low literacy rate, less experience, nuclear family system, lack of institutional services, and low level of risk perception about climate change. The marginal outcome showed that the livestock herders with positive risk perception and access to the institutional services do participate more frequently in a higher number of adaptations options for economic and ecological benefits. Therefore, it is suggested that government and other development actors should strengthen institutions for trust building among local community groups and to reduce individuals' risks. Moreover, effective insurance schemes could facilitate small livestock herders to keep less but more productive livestock. The study recommends building viable and potential weather index insurance schemes which will result meaningful marginal scale benefits for smallholders. Finally, the results of major constraints suggest that it is necessary to provide awareness of climatic vulnerabilities, timely information delivery, and adequate financial facilities to offset resource constraints of livestock herders in order to adopt sustainable strategies at their farms., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Climate Change (CC) adaptation and mitigation policy coherence (PC) across sectors is essential to effectively address CC challenges and support synergies. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to CC. In this paper, the extent to which Pakistan's national and provincial water, agriculture, and energy sector policies, development plans and strategies are aligned in a CC policy coherent manner is established. In this context, a qualitative content document analysis with associated scoring is used to assess government documents. Furthermore, implications of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Initiative (CPEC; 2017-2030), the biggest infrastructure investment program ever in Pakistan, are discussed. An important result is that sectoral policies are found to have different degrees of PC. Better coherence is found at federal than at provincial levels. Furthermore, CC policies are found to be more coherently addressed in water and agriculture policies than in energy policies. It is suggested that to achieve higher levels of CC PC, federal and provincial governments should establish mechanisms of intergovernmental consultation for policy-making and cross-sectoral planning, especially in the energy sector. Our findings can help the Government of Pakistan to transform CPEC into a model green Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region. In this context, there are important implications with regards to e.g., reducing coal-based energy projects and environmentally damaging infrastructure activities in sensitive ecosystems. With this paper, the authors want to raise awareness of the key importance of CC PC, particular in context of the BRI. Many countries participating in the initiative have carbon reduction targets in place.

Scholars agree on the role of media and communication in mitigating climate change. However, the complex and scientific nature of climate change, particularly within a contemporary media setting that includes growing misinformation, has challenged environmental journalists. To better understand these challenges the present study uses the hierarchy of influences model to explore different levels of influence that shape climate content in an under-researched country, Pakistan. Additionally, this study explains reporters' experiences in dealing with misinformation on climate change, its ability to impact their work, and their perception of using fact-checking tools to counter it. The results, based on 21 interviews with self-identified climate journalists, revealed that, on an individual level, lack of expertise and education influence their coverage of environmental issues. Furthermore, the reporters expressed that following the Western process and model of environmental journalism impacts their routine and climate coverage. Moreover, the journalists claimed that advertisers and corporations significantly influence their news stories on environmental issues. The study also reveals that the journalists believed that there is no widespread climate misinformation in Pakistan, thus reducing the need for fact-checkers. The paper concludes by discussing the findings while providing recommendations for enhanced journalism coverage of climate change in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Pakistan sugarcane is an important cash crop, a source of income and employment for the farming community. The environmental degradation results in the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events has significant consequences for sugarcane production in the world, especially in the developing countries like Pakistan, because of relatively low adaptive capacity, high vulnerability to natural hazards, and weak forecasting systems and mitigating strategies. This paper is an attempt to analyze the impact of environmental change on sugarcane production in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Qualitative and quantitative data approach were adopted for the analysis and the data are collected through exploratory design, case study, and survey design. The sample consists of sugarcane growers, that is, landowner farmers, ex‐farmers, and employed farmers. The results based on multiple regression model indicate that only three factors (rainfall, soil conditions, and irrigation) have a significant effect on the production of sugarcane. Some suggestions and implications are mentioned based on empirical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]