Epi 66: Climate change – The Third Pole near Pakistan that flooded the country

Full Episode description

From faraway in space, if an alien happened to use a pair of binoculars, he might have easily mistaken Pakistan for a large river, or a bunch islands sticking out an inland sea. Certainly not for one of the most fertile lands growing fragrant and aromatic spices and rice.
More than a fifth of Pakistan is underwater and is witness to one of the largest natural catastrophes. Sadly Pakistan maybe paying the price of global warming despite contributing to less than 1% of global greenhouse emissions. 11-year old Pritika Mathur thinks this is unfair. Developed countries have benefited from industrial development and left developing countries to bear the brunt of the impact.

The third pole, as this region of the Himalayas is called, contains the largest collection of glaciers and ice, outside of the North and South Pole. Through a combination of glaciers melting and excess rainfall, the people of rural Pakistan (especially farmers) have lost most of their land, crops and livestock to floods, not seen in centuries.

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Click here to listen to Episode 21 – where Vedant discusses gold, silver and precious metals sitting inside our smartphones and laptops and what to do with them.

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