Pakistan experiences back-to-back ‘warmest years’

A rickshaw driver drinks water as the feels-like temperature in Karachi soared past 54 degrees Celsius.—Online • Rapid warming spikes sharply up north; AJK, GB, KP record highest annual temperatures in 65 years• Extreme heat claims over 200,000 lives in Europe since 2022; El Nino threatens to compound weather extremes• Monsoon delayed in India ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded its second-warmest year in 65 years in 2025, intensifying extreme floods and creating a systemic risk to the nation’s economy, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26. Pakistan’s hottest year was 2024, the survey reported 2025 as the second-warmest year in 65 years, marking consecutive years of record high temperatures. The country experienced a national annual mean temperature of 23.9°C last year, 1.09°C warmer than the 22.8-degree average. Despite contributing less than 1pc to global emissions and 0.4 percent historically, Pakistan bears a disproportionately high burden of global climate change. “Climate change is no longer a distant or abstract threat to the country but a present reality,” the survey stated, citing an escalating challenge to the economy and population. Over the last 50 years, the annual mean temperature in Pakistan has increased by approximately 0.5°C, with projections indicating a further rise of 3 to 5 degrees by the end of this century. In 2025, northern regions warmed intensively. Temperature anomalies reached 1.24°C in Gilgit-Baltistan, 1.29°C in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 1.56°C in Azad Jammu and Kashmir recording their highest annual temperatures in 65 years. Meanwhile, the country received 288.5 millimetres of rainfall in 2025, about 3pc below the long-term average of 297.6 millimetres. Rainfall distribution remained uneven. Sindh, Punjab, and GB recorded above-average rainfall, while KP and Balochistan remained below average. The monsoon season from July to September recorded rainfall 23pc above average, while the year started with significantly below-average rainfall dur