Earlier this year, India and Pakistan witnessed a prolonged heatwave, starting in March months before usual hot weather. This was followed by, and was in part the cause of, major flooding in Pakistan, as well as in parts of India.
The heatwave severely affected agriculture, while the flooding came with immense cost to property and infrastructure. Millions of people were affected.
South Asia has experienced devastating climate extremes – more than half of all South Asians have been affected by at least one climate-related disaster in the last two decades.
In this episode, Gareth speaks to Aisha Khan, Executive Director, Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change; Dr Daanish Mustafa, Professor in Critical Geography, King’s College London; and Jakob Steiner, Glacier Hydrologist, ICIMOD.
They discuss how climate risks in South Asia are being felt, and how the region can work to build resilience to these threats.