Abstract
Climate change poses a higher risk to the livelihood of vulnerable rural
mountainous community due to prevailing poverty and more dependence
on the natural resources of the surrounding areas. Aim of the study was
to assess the local people’s perception of changing climate and to link it
with meteorological data in the mid hills of Tehsil Balakot, KPK Pakistan.
Using mix method approach of interviews and questionnaire, data was
collected from 200 randomly selected households. Temperature data of
30 years 1985 to 2014 showed that there is an overall decrease in mean
minimum annual temperature by a factor of 0.0024 for each year whereas
there is an overall increase in mean maximum annual temperature by a
factor of 0.0412 for each year. The mean annual rainfall of thirty years
was recorded as 1471.27 mm with a decreasing trend of 0.9484 annually.
Descriptive analysis showed that 83.5% and 40.5% of respondents
observed change in temperature and increase in annual rainfall
respectively. Local residents of the area were more vulnerable to climate
change and natural hazards due to their poor socio-economic conditions
and previous disasters history. In order to adapt to change in climatic
conditions, mitigatory measures should be taken to improve their living
conditions. Deforestation should also be avoided to overcome and reduce
their vulnerabilities. Community resilience can help in mitigation and
adaptation at local level
LAILA SHAHZAD, ARIFA TAHIR, FAIZA SHARIF. (2018) Understanding the community’s perception of climate change and adaptations in the Mid Hills of Pakistan, Biologia – Journal of Biological Society of Pakistan, Volume 64 (II), Volume 64 (II).
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