Uninhabitability, the Limits to Resilience, and a Passport to Safety

Flooding events in the Pakistani Sindh province killed more than 1700 people over the summer of 2022, following extreme spring heatwaves. With 15% of the country’s entire population affected by the water masses, several millions were displaced. Even those people well-adapted to the cycles of the monsoon had no options left to guard themselves from relentless rains and rising waters. The floods eventually subside, yet livestock losses and the vast destruction of fertile land will curtail economic development for years to come.

The situation in the South Asian country is no longer solely a tragic abnormality. As global warming is accelerating, high air temperatures can translate into unleashed precipitation. Overall, extreme events around the world are becoming more frequent and more intense, posing grave human security risks and requiring ever larger infrastructural adaptation.