Climate Change Impact on Pakistan’s Water Quality and Biodiversity: Its Management and Future Policies

Airaf Busri; Rabia Busra; Noshin Shafaqat; Muhammad Abdullah; Saira Sajid; Aqsa Riaz; Habiba Akbar; Iqra Jahangir

doi:10.70749/ijbr.v3i10.2510

Authors

Airaf Busri Department of Environmental Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
Rabia Busra Department of Environmental Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
Noshin Shafaqat Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Muhammad Abdullah Department of Environmental Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
Saira Sajid Department of International Relations, University of Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan.
Aqsa Riaz Department of Environmental Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
Habiba Akbar Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
Iqra Jahangir Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70749/ijbr.v3i10.2510

Keywords:

Climate Change Impact, Water Quality, Biodiversity, Future Policies

Abstract

Pakistan is particularly susceptible to the negative consequences of climate change, which seriously jeopardize its abundant biodiversity and water security. This narrative review summarizes the most recent research on how changing climate patterns, such as rising temperatures, unpredictable precipitation, and an increase in the frequency of extreme events, are making water scarcity worse and lowering water quality through pollution, salinization, and changed hydrological regimes. The loss of biodiversity in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is a result of these changes, endangering endemic species as well as vital habitats like the northern glaciers and the Indus Delta. The review critically examines recent national policies (2020–2025), including the Protected Areas Initiative and the Recharge Pakistan initiative, and provides an overview of current management practices. It comes to the conclusion that Pakistan's resilience and sustainable development objectives will be seriously jeopardized in the absence of integrated, cross-sectoral policies that clearly connect biodiversity conservation and water resource management. The article concludes with tactical suggestions for improving institutional capacity, promoting regional cooperation, and improving climate adaptation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2023). Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Working Group II Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781009325844/type/book

2. Dayal, V., Duraiappah, A., & Nawn, N. (2018). Ecology, Economy and Society. Springer.

3. Archer, D. R., Forsythe, N., Fowler, H. J., & Shah, S. M. (2010). Sustainability of water resources management in the Indus basin under changing climatic and socio economic conditions. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 14(8), 1669-1680.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1669-2010

4. Atta-ur-Rahman, & Khan, A. N. (2012). Analysis of 2010-flood causes, nature and magnitude in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Natural Hazards, 66(2), 887-904.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0528-3

5. Chaudhry, Q. U. Z. (2017). Climate Change Profile of Pakistan. In www.adb.org. Asian Development Bank.

https://www.adb.org/publications/climate-change-profile-pakistan

6. Buriro, T. Z., & Nisa Jatoi, Q. U. (2025). Pakistan’s flood management strategies: A critical review of disaster preparedness, response, and risk mitigation. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, 31(4), 84-90.

https://doi.org/10.63278/1409

7. Lutz, A. F., Immerzeel, W. W., Kraaijenbrink, P. D., Shrestha, A. B., & Bierkens, M. F. (2016). Climate change impacts on the upper Indus hydrology: Sources, shifts and extremes. PLOS ONE, 11(11), e0165630.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165630

8. Immerzeel, W. W., Van Beek, L. P., & Bierkens, M. F. (2010). Climate change will affect the Asian water towers. Science, 328(5984), 1382-1385.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1183188

9. Mirza, M. M. (2010). Climate change, flooding in South Asia and implications. Regional Environmental Change, 11(S1), 95-107.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-010-0184-7

10. Delpla, I., Jung, A., Baures, E., Clement, M., & Thomas, O. (2009). Impacts of climate change on surface water quality in relation to drinking water production. Environment International, 35(8), 1225-1233.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2009.07.001

11. Azizullah, A., Khattak, M. N., Richter, P., & Häder, D. (2011). Water pollution in Pakistan and its impact on public health — A review. Environment International, 37(2), 479-497.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2010.10.007

12. Azizullah, A., Khattak, M. N., Richter, P., & Häder, D. (2011). Water pollution in Pakistan and its impact on public health — A review. Environment International, 37(2), 479-497.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2010.10.007

13. Levy, K., Woster, A. P., Goldstein, R. S., & Carlton, E. J. (2016). Untangling the impacts of climate change on Waterborne diseases: A systematic review of relationships between diarrheal diseases and temperature, rainfall, flooding, and drought. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(10), 4905-4922.

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b06186

14. Dudgeon, D. (2019). Multiple threats imperil freshwater biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Current Biology, 29(19), R960-R967.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.002

15. Schmitz, M., Flynn, D. F., Mwangi, P. N., Schmid, R., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Weisser, W. W., & Schmid, B. (2013). Consistent effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning under varying density and evenness. Folia Geobotanica, 48(3), 335-353.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-013-9177-x

16. Feinsinger, P., Rodríguez, I. V., Izquierdo, A. E., & Buzato, S. (2020). The inquiry cycle and applied inquiry cycle: Integrated frameworks for Field studies in the environmental sciences. BioScience, 70(12), 1065-1081.

https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa108

17. Breitburg, D. L., Baxter, J. W., Hatfield, C. A., Howarth, R. W., Jones, C. G., Lovett, G. M., & Wigand, C. (1998). Understanding effects of multiple stressors: Ideas and challenges. Successes, Limitations, and Frontiers in Ecosystem Science, 416-431.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1724-4_17

18. Braulik, G. T., Noureen, U., Arshad, M., & Reeves, R. R. (2015). Review of status, threats, and conservation management options for the endangered Indus River blind dolphin. Biological Conservation, 192, 30-41.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.09.008

19. Mangrio, A. M., Rafiq, M., Sheng, Z., Rind, N. A., Korejo, M. F., Naqvi, S. H., & Mangrio, S. M. (2020). Comparative study of growth and biochemical attributes of Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh of Indus delta and in vitro raised plants established at Jamshoro, Sindh Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 53(3).

https://doi.org/10.30848/pjb2021-3(3)

20. Limnology and oceanography bulletin volume 32 number 2 May 2023 41‐87. (2023). Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin, 32(2), 41-87.

https://doi.org/10.1002/lob.10578

21. Rabaiotti, D., Coulson, T., & Woodroffe, R. (2023). Climate change is predicted to cause population collapse in a cooperative breeder. Global Change Biology, 29(21), 6002-6017.

https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16890

22. McMullen, K., Calle, P., Alvarado-Cadena, O., Kowal, M. D., Espinoza, E., Domínguez, G. A., Tirapé, A., Vargas, F. H., Grant, E., Hunt, B. P., Pakhomov, E. A., & Alava, J. J. (2024). Ecotoxicological assessment of microplastics and cellulose particles in the Galapagos Islands and Galapagos penguin food web. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 43(6), 1442-1457.

https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.5874

23. Ray, M., & Umapathy, G. (2022). Environmental DNA as a tool for biodiversity monitoring in aquatic ecosystems – a review. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 14(5), 21102-21116.

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7837.14.5.21102-21116

24. Wei, M., Wang, Y., & Giamporcaro, S. (2024). The impact of ownership structure on environmental information disclosure: Evidence from China. Journal of Environmental Management, 352, 120100.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120100

25. Ullah, W., Nihei, T., Nafees, M., Zaman, R., & Ali, M. (2017). Understanding climate change vulnerability, adaptation and risk perceptions at household level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 10(3), 359-378.

https://doi.org/10.1108/ijccsm-02-2017-0038

26. Xu, F., & Chang, H. (2022). Soil greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen change for wheat Field application of composted sewage sludge. Agronomy, 12(8), 1946.

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12081946

27. Gardner, S. C., Neureuther, A., & Njoki, T. (2025). The UN decade on ecosystem restoration: The opportunity for tropical inland waters. Progress on Ecosystem Restoration of Tropical Inland Waters, 3-16.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-2284-9_1

28. Arfanuzzaman, M. (2025). Transboundary water cooperation and joint river basin management are pivotal for climate resilient development in South Asia. World Development Perspectives, 38, 100681.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100681

29. Xu, F., & Chang, H. (2022). Soil greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen change for wheat Field application of composted sewage sludge. Agronomy, 12(8), 1946.

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12081946

30. Anwar, M., Rais, M., Baig, M. B., & Behnassi, M. (2022). Impacts of climate change on biodiversity in Pakistan: Current challenges and policy recommendations. The Food Security, Biodiversity, and Climate Nexus, 101-123.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12586-7_6

31. Bank, A. D. (2020). Asian Water Development Outlook 2020: Advancing Water Security across Asia and the Pacific. In www.adb.org. Asian Development Bank.

https://www.adb.org/publications/asian-water-development-outlook-2020

32. Malla, A., & Gautam, K. (2023). Handbook for on-grid rooftop solar PV design optimization.

https://doi.org/10.53055/icimod.1025

33. Zheng, Y., Sun, G., Wei, S., Kong, L., Guo, J., Pan, W., Zhu, X., & Qi, X. (2025). Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor pathway and key genes in cerebellar dysfunction induced by chronic intermittent alcohol exposure: A transcriptomic study. Neurological Research, 1-14.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01616412.2025.2556244

34. Singh, D., & Sharma, V. (2025). Proposing a digital twin-based sustainable water governance system for rural Indian villages. International Journal of Information Technology, 17(3), 1777-1783.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s41870-025-02414-2

35. Grumbine, R. E., & Xu, J. (2021). Mountain futures: Pursuing innovative adaptations in coupled social–ecological systems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 19(6), 342-348.

https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2345

36. Himshikha, Sharma, T., Kaur, T., Singh, A., Mohapatra, A., & Saikia, N. (2024). Regenerative agriculture and sustainable development goals. Regenerative Agriculture for Sustainable Food Systems, 135-174.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-6691-8_5

37. Stanley, A. E., Epanchin‐Niell, R., Treakle, T., & Iacona, G. D. (2024). Attributes of preemptive conservation efforts for species precluded from listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Conservation Biology, 38(2).

https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14200

38. Arfanuzzaman, M. (2025). Transboundary water cooperation and joint river basin management are pivotal for climate resilient development in South Asia. World Development Perspectives, 38, 100681.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100681