Worsening urban heat could trigger public health meltdown, expert warns
Responding to Dawn’s queries about Karachi’s challenges on the eve of World Environment Day, Prof Zafar Fatmi, Head of Environmental Occupational Health and Climate Change at the Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, said that the city’s urban heat effect appears to be becoming more intense. He explained that more concrete, more roads, high-density construction, traffic congestion, loss of trees, and fewer open spaces are making the city absorb and retain more heat. Referring to studies conducted from Karachi, he said that they showed that urban heat island effects are present, with higher night-time land surface temperatures in urban areas, and recent work has identified heatwave vulnerability in the city’s dense urban zones.
- ▪Responding to Dawn’s queries about Karachi’s challenges on the eve of World Environment Day, Prof Zafar Fatmi, Head of Environmental Occupational Health and Climate Change at the Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University,
- ▪He explained that more concrete, more roads, high-density construction, traffic congestion, loss of trees, and fewer open spaces are making the city absorb and retain more heat.
- ▪Referring to studies conducted from Karachi, he said that they showed that urban heat island effects are present, with higher night-time land surface temperatures in urban areas, and recent work has identified heatwave vulnerability in the
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Worsening urban heat could trigger public health meltdown, expert warns Faiza Ilyas Published June 5, 2026 0 People sleep outside a business office building to escape the heat on a hot summer morning in Karachi, on May 30, 2026. — Reuters comments Join our Whatsapp Channel Add Dawn as a trusted source • Cites 2026 study that finds Karachi has highest urban-rural temperature difference• Says emergency response not enough, the city must reduce heat at its source• Links pollution, dense construction, traffic, and tree loss to growing health risks KARACHI: Highlighting the multiple environmental challenges Karachi faces, a senior community health sciences expert has called for urgent actions at both the government and individual levels to tackle the growing urban heat problem that’s silently…
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