Climatic Changes and Their Effect on Wildlife of District Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Authors

  • Asad Ullah Department of Environmental Sciences, Government Degree College Gulabad Chakdara, Dir Lower, Pakistan
  • Sayyed Iftekhar Ahmad Department of Environmental Sciences, Government Degree College Gulabad Chakdara, Dir Lower, Pakistan
  • Rafi Ullah Plant Ecology and Dendroecology Labartory, Department of Botany, University of Malakand, Pakistan
  • Atta Ullah Khan Department of Biotechnology, University of Malakand Chakdara, Dir Lower, Pakistan
  • Sikandar Khan Pakistan forest Institute, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Waheed Ullah Department of Environmental Science, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbotabad Campus, Pakistan
  • Abdul Waris Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v3i4.2275

Abstract

Climatic changes and their impact are increasingly evident in Pakistan, especially in the mountainous regions. Mountain ecosystems are considered to be sensitive indicators of global warming; even slight variations in temperature can lead to significant shifts in local climate, which can, in turn, drastically affect the natural environment, subsequently altering people’s lifestyle and wildlife habitats. The targeted area for the present research was Lower Dir District, Pakistan. The study gathered the required information from primary and secondary sources. Secondary data on temperature and precipitation were obtained from various sources, i.e., local CBO, including WWF Pakistan. Based on information gathered on climate change and wildlife, a detailed questionnaire was designed. Results showed that no regular pattern of the increase was found in temperature from 2010 to 2018; the same was noticed in the rainfall decrease pattern. Results also showed that the leading causes behind climatic changes are an increase in greenhouse gases due to pollution by industries, vehicles, crushing plants, deforestation, and some natural phenomena such as floods. The study showed that more than 80% of the respondents agreed that climatic effects have a significant impact on wildlife, i.e., the existence of wildlife falls in danger due to climatic changes as it may lead to habitat change, making it difficult for the survival and adaptation of the wildlife. Hence, in consequence, it leads to migration, low growth rate, an increase in morbidity and mortality rate, and finally leading to the extinction of the species or population. It is concluded from the study that people are severely noticing the climatic change and its leading causes are greenhouse gases and deforestation. To control climatic changes and wildlife extinction, we need an appropriate policy for forest conservation, wildlife conservation, prevent hunting, industrial pollution control, vehicle pollution control, increase in plantation, awareness of policy for the control of climatic changes, etc.

Keywords:

Climate change; Wildlife; Temperature; Rainfall; Lower Dir; Pakistan

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How to Cite

Ullah, A., Ahmad, S. I., Ullah, R., Khan, A. U., Khan, S., Ullah, W., & Waris, A. (2020). Climatic Changes and Their Effect on Wildlife of District Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Journal of Atmospheric Science Research, 3(4), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v3i4.2275

Issue

Vol. 3 , Iss. 4 (October 2020)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2020 Author(s)

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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