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Pakistan is vulnerable to a range of climate hazards, including sea-level rise. The Indus Delta region, situated in the coastal Sindh province, is particularly at risk of sea-level rise due to low-lying land and fragile ecosystems. In this article, expertise is drawn together from the newly established Pakistan Sea-Level Working Group, consisting of policy experts, scientists, and practitioners, to provide recommendations for future research, investment, and coastal risk management. An assessment of the current scientific understanding of sea-level change and coastal climate risks in Pakistan highlights an urgent need to improve the availability and access to sea-level data and other coastal measurements. In addition, reflecting on the policy environment and the enablers needed to facilitate effective responses to future sea-level change, recommendations are made to integrate coastal climate services into the National Adaptation Plan and develop a National Framework for Climate Services. Such a framework, alongside collaboration, co-production, and capacity development, could help support required improvements in coastal observations and monitoring and continuously deliver useful, usable, and accessible sea-level information for use by practitioners and decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant growth regulators are useful for promoting plant growth and their consumption in horticultural crops is increasing day by day. However, their quality and purity are most important characteristics to estimate their efficacy. In Pakistan, the determination and quality monitoring of naphthyl acetic acid (NAA) in commercial plant growth regulator formulations by using HPLC technique is very limited. For the purpose of registration of plant growth regulators (PGRs) for marketing and for post-registration quality monitoring, a robust, simple, and accurate analytical method is needed. In this study, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the determination of NAA in commercial PGR samples was validated under the laboratory conditions and available resources of Provincial Reference Fertilizer Testing Laboratory (PRFTL) Raiwind, Lahore. The guidelines and values set by Collaborative International Pesticides Analytical Council (CIPAC) were considered as standard for method evaluation. The chromatographic conditions of HPLC method under study are comprised of (i) mobile phase; mixture of acetonitrile: water (30:70,v/v); (ii) C8 column; (iii) UV detection at 255nm; (iv) Flow rate of 1.0mL / minute; (v) and injection volume of 10 µL. The method demonstrated clear response linearity with correlation coefficient (r) of 0.999. In order to determine the precision, an interlaboratory comparison of NAA was conducted and percent relative standard deviation (RSD) was calculated from results received from eight (8) participating laboratories. The Horwitz equation was followed to evaluate precision of method. The experimental inter-laboratory RSD (RSDR =0.168) was within the Horwitz acceptable limit of RSDR (2.097). Method accuracy was evaluated by calculating percent recovery of analytical standard of NAA obtained from Sigma Aldrich along with its certificate of analysis. The recovery of NAA standard ranged between 99.96 to 100%. The results revealed that aforementioned HPLC method fulfilled the validation criteria of CIPAC and can be followed under laboratory conditions of PRFTL, Raiwind, Lahore for routine analysis of NAA in commercial PGRs. Additionally, the quality of commercial NAA samples marketed by different companies was assessed by following aforesaid validated HPLC method. Ten samples of NAA were collected from market and were analyzed. The results were tested for fit or unfit and compared with the company/manufacturers' claim considering the decision rule followed by the Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab, Pakistan. The NAA contents in samples ranged from 4.20 ± 0.10 to 5.13 ± 0.05%. The results showed that all the samples were fit, and it can be inferred that presently the quality of commercial NAA marketed in district Lahore is satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skipper fauna of Balochistan province is not properly studied. To fill this gap, a study was conducted to explore the skipper's fauna from previous literature and new collection from Balochistan, Pakistan. We report21 species of skippers from two subfamilies, Coeliadinae and Hesperiinae. Out of21 species five species namely Hesperia comma (Linnaeus, 1758), Parnaraguttatus (Bremerand Grey, 1852), Pyrgus cashmirensis Moore (1874), Pyrgus darwazicus Grum-Grshimailo (1890) and Pyrgus sidae (Esper, 1784) under subfamily Hesperiinae are recorded for the first time from Balochistan. Out of five reported species from Balochistan, two species Pyrgus darwazicus and Pyrgus sidae are new records for Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a map reporting valuable information on the cryosphere of the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP, the largest protected area of Pakistan and the highest park in the world). All the information is provided considering the CKNP as a whole, and in detail by dividing it into five basins (i.e. Shigar, Hunza, Shyok, Upper Indus, and Gilgit). The glacier inventory reports 608 ice bodies covering 3680 km2 (∼35% of the CKNP area), with a total glacier volume of ca. 532 km3. In addition, we modeled the meltwater from glacier ice ablation over the period 23 July to 9 August 2011. The total melt amount is ca. 1.5 km3. Finally, we considered glacial lakes (202 water-bodies, covering 4 km2). For these latter glacier features, we also analyzed their potentially dangerous conditions and two lakes were found having such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme events have gained considerable scientific attention recently due to their potentially catastrophic impacts. Heat waves are thought to be more pronounced now in most parts of the world, and especially in South Asia, but doubts remain. The aim of this study is to calculate the frequency and intensity of heat waves in South Asia, focusing on Pakistan and identifying the regions within Pakistan that are most vulnerable to heat waves. Analyses have been performed both at provincial and country levels from 1961 to 2009. The provincial level analysis shows positive trends for heat waves of magnitudes ≥40°C and ≥45°C for 5 and 7 consecutive days. Events of magnitude ≥40°C and ≥45°C for 10 consecutive days also increased in frequency in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan. These regions are therefore considered to be the regions most vulnerable to heat wave events in Pakistan. The Balochistan region shows a consistently increasing trend throughout the study period, which may lead to more frequent drought in the future. The country level analysis indicates an increase in the frequency of 5 and 7 consecutive days heat waves at all defined temperature thresholds. The 10-days heat waves spells show a slight increase at ≥40°C and no significant change at ≥45°C. The Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir areas reported no events at ≥45°C for 5, 7 and 10 continuous days. It is anticipated that with a long term rise in temperatures around the globe, heat waves will become more frequent and intense in all parts of the world, including Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restrictions on human and industrial activities due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have resulted in an unprecedented reduction in energy consumption and air pollution around the world. Quantifying these changes in environmental conditions due to government-enforced containment measures provides a unique opportunity to understand the patterns, origins and impacts of air pollutants. During the lockdown in Pakistan, a significant reduction in energy demands and a decline of ∼1786 GWh (gigawatt hours) in electricity generation is reported. We used satellite observational data for nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO 2), aerosol optical depth (AOD) and land surface temperature (LST) to explore the associated environmental impacts of shifts in energy demands and emissions across Pakistan. During the strict lockdown period (March 23 to April 15, 2020), we observed a reduction in NO 2 emissions by 40% from coal-based power plants followed by 30% in major urban areas compared to the same period in 2019. Also, around 25% decrease in AOD (at 550 nm) thickness in industrial and energy sectors was observed although no major decrease was evident in urban areas. Most of the industrial regions resumed emissions during the 3rd quarter of April 2020 while the urban regions maintained reduced emissions for a longer period. Nonetheless, a gradual increase has been observed since April 16 due to relaxations in lockdown implementations. Restrictions on transportation in the cities resulted in an evident drop in the surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect, particularly in megacities. The changes reported as well as the analytical framework provides a baseline benchmark to assess the sectoral pollution contributions to air quality, especially in the scarcity of ground-based monitoring systems across the country. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]