It is undeniable that climate change has taken its toll from Karachi. To name just one example, 1,200 people lost their lives two years ago as a result of a heavy heat in the megacity.

Shahzad Qureshi, an entrepreneur from Karachi, wanted to make sure that this worst case would not happen again. He and his firm, Urban Forest, went to work quickly.

The result? He succeeded in building a forest in Clifton, Karachi, which is now in full swing.

Forest in Karachi

Shahzad Qureshi and his team have planted the trees forest over an area of ​​400 square meters three years back. The trees are now as high as 25 feet and more than 1,200 in number.

According to M. Qureshi, the temperature inside the forest is 4-5 ° C cooler than its infertile land environment. In short, the forest cover planted by Qureshi and his team can help lower temperatures in Karachi.

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Karachi and the rising temperature

Experts say Karachi was under the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect due to the rapid increase in population and industrialization side by side. The UHI phenomenon occurs when a certain part of the city absorbs extra heat as a result of excessive construction. Trees and vegetation help to reduce this effect by absorption of carbon dioxide and evaporation.

According to an environmentalist:

Evapotranspiration, alone or in combination with shadow, can help reduce the peak summer temperatures by 1-5 ° C.

According to one study, only 25 urban forests are sufficient to eradicate Karachi's UHI effect once and for all. Qureshi's sturdy Urban Forest says that one tree can: [1945913]

• The air cooling equals 10 air conditioners per year.
• Filter 27 kg pollutants per year.
• Help absorb the rainwater during the monsoon to prevent flooding.
• Generate 260 kilos of oxygen per year.
• Reduce the required climate control by 30% per year.
• And of course, the habitat birds and animals.

Let's look at the forest planted by Qureshi and his team:

Reducing temperatures

Methods such as coating roads with a light gray seal, greening roofs or installing solar panels can be used to lower the temperature. However, these methods are expensive, so authorities with a budget look for cheaper solutions.

Forests are undeniably the cheaper and most effective solution to the always prevailing heat-wave problem. Environmentalists say:

Growing plants have the synergistic advantage of cooling urban heat, carbon sequestration, clean air and aesthetics. Trees and vegetation are most useful as a mitigation strategy when planted in strategic locations around buildings or to obscure paving on parking lots and on streets.

Another innovative way to reduce the temperatures during the summers is to create air passage. An air passageway allows a continuous flow of fresh air through green zones to the city

Abid Qamar of Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) said;

Urban air corridors help channel the airflow through the city, bringing in fresh air from the outside and removing polluted air from the city centers. Such as connecting parks in Karachi with the river Malir or those in Lahore with the canals to create an airway.

Via Dawn