Environmental experts on Wednesday termed rapid increase of greenhouse gases as a major cause of rising temperatures in the federal capital.
Climate and environment experts say that Pakistan is among the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change and that the situation may deteriorate in the coming years.
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency former director general Asif Shuja said that due to massive tree-cutting and rapid urbanization, temperature in the capital city had started to regularly cross 44 degrees in summer.
He said that there was a need to take satellite images of Islamabad to gauge the most heat emitting areas. Once the major heat emitting areas have been identified, it would help take preventive measures to control rising temperatures of the city, he said.
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) environmentalist Dr Fahad Saeed, said that the capital’s climate had been under rapid change for a long time.
He said loss of agricultural revenue, additional costs for managing water resources as well as prevalence of disease and other health risks was due to climate change.
Another SDPI expert Kashif Salik said that Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are greenhouse gases. They are largely responsible for damaging the ozone layer which is directly responsible for climate variations. Massive deforestation is another cause of rising temperatures in the capital city, he said.