Climate Change Vulnerability of Pakistan Towards Natural Disasters: A Review

The paper in hand is a review of scientific findings focusing on vulnerability of Pakistan in the context of climate change (CC). Since last decade, head to head episodes of natural disasters especially floods, leave the country`s people highly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change due to its geographical location and socioeconomic conditions making it susceptible to natural disasters. In this paper we conclude the state of the art research by discussing and clarifying different conceptual definitions of vulnerability and its association with CC. Further the paper highlights vulnerability and exposure of Pakistan towards natural hazards such as floods, droughts and cyclones stating that the country is vulnerable to numerous hazards, both natural and human induced due to a direct consequence of the country’s high variability and regional contrast in terms of geology, topography and meteorology. Next, the paper outlines exposure and vulnerability among the poorest by summarizing that in most cases poorest of the poor communities are hard hit by climate change due to their high exposure and low adaptive capacity and the final part of the paper concludes discussion that for Pakistan, as a hazard-prone country, it is the need of time to actively address natural hazards at all scales by engaging local communities and organizations to better withstand natural disasters.