Climate change effects discussed

LAHORE:A two-day international workshop "Climate Change Impacts on Glaciers, Rivers and The Ocean" started at the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) here on Friday.

As per the opening statement of the workshop, investigating the effects of climate change on water resources is crucial to inquire and deeply understand the effects on aquatic life and also its consequences on the human environment. The workshop funded by the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) is being organised by the LCWU’s Department of Environmental Science in collaboration with North Carolina State University, USA.

The event is also aimed to develop the Pakistan Women University Climate Change Consortium (PWUCC) as a collaboration of various women's universities in Pakistan, including LCWU, Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) and SBK Women University (SBKWU) in partnership with North Carolina State University. The objective of the workshop is to provide a platform for female environmentalists to understand the climate change issues and challenges.

Speaking at the inaugural session, the LCWU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dr Bushra Mirza said that environmental science was a critical field of study that called for the use of knowledge and public-private partnerships to work for the restoration of natural ecosystems and the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs). She added that the world was facing global climate change impacts particularly the developing countries thus the importance of environmental science could not be overstated and this type of international collaboration in this field could play a crucial role in mitigating the impacts and finding more sustainable and rational solutions.

Secretary Environment Protection Department Punjab Dr Sajid Mahmood Chauhan said that Pakistan is among the top 10 polluted countries. Still, for the past five years, Pakistan has been trying to recover from environmental degradation, he added. In order to protect the environment of Punjab, he said, clean air policy and plastic management policy was approved for the first time in Punjab on March 29, 2023. Prof Dr Lewis Owen, Head of the Department of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University mentioned some of the best laboratories working for understanding the dynamics of geomorphic, tectonic and climatic processes, and ultimately providing the analogues for understanding the evolution of many ancient plate boundaries. He added that applying remote sensing, field methods and geochronology in various geographical regions would provide the basis for advanced climate change research. Professor Paul Liu emphasised the importance of digital mapping using a high-resolution sub-bottom profiler and Swath Bathymetric Sonar System to explore the effects on various rivers, glaciers and oceans, particularly in Pakistan.