Question :2

Scientists are predicting a ‘Super El Nino’ creating extreme weather events around the world over the next 6 - 9 months. It could be the strongest for at least 70 years.

When I heard about this Super El Nino prediction first time, I got really worried. Living in Pakistan, and especially in Karachi, we have already seen how bad climate change can be.

How do you think this will impact your country?

Pakistan is a country that totally depends on monsoon. And when El Nino becomes strong, our whole monsoon system gets disturbed. So for us it means only problems. On one side, Sindh and Balochistan can face very heavy rains again. You know, Karachi can't even handle one day of heavy rain. Roads are full of water, light goes off for hours, and in many areas water enters inside the houses. If this Super El Nino is really the strongest in 70 years, then cities like Karachi, Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta can face urban flood situation just like in 2022.

But on the other side, in Punjab and KPK, it can bring extreme heat and dryness. So our crops like wheat, rice and cotton will be in big trouble. Too much rain destroys the crop and no rain also destroys it. And when crops are damaged, then you know what happens — prices of atta, rice, vegetables, everything goes up. For a normal family like ours, it already is very hard to manage expenses.

Karachi is situated on the coast of Arabian Sea. When sea temperature goes high because of El Nino, chances of cyclones become more. That is very risky for us. Im very scare of it.

Will you and your family make any special preparations to help deal with the worst impacts?

So yes, my family is trying to prepare for it. My husband cleaned the roof and all the drains around our house last week so that rain water doesn't get stuck. We have also made a small emergency bag. We kept a torch, some candles, a charged power bank, some biscuits, dry food, clean drinking water bottles, and some basic medicines. Because whenever it rains heavy in Karachi, we know light will go and sometimes gas also.

I always stores extra groceries in monsoon — like rice, daal, flour, cooking oil. This time we should keep a bit more stock, because sometimes trucks can't reach Karachi if roads are closed due to floods.

We are also trying to do our small part. We planted two small trees outside our house and we try not to throw garbage in the drains. I try to clean the drain in front of our street myself, because if it is blocked, our whole street will be full of water.

And most important, we now daily check weather updates from PDMA and on TV. If they announce heavy rain or cyclone warning, we just stay home and also check on our neighbors.

Conclusion:

Infact , this Super El Nino is not just a news for me. For Pakistan, it will be a big challenge. But if we stay prepared at home and help each other in our streets, we can face it. Government should also start working from now.