Cloudburst: A Growing Climate Challenge for Pakistan

In recent years, climate change has reshaped weather patterns across the globe. From rising sea levels to intense storms, people are also becoming familiar with a relatively new term: cloudburst.

Pakistan, like many other countries, is facing severe climate challenges. Unusual rainfall, extreme heatwaves, flash floods, and melting glaciers are now common. Currently, heavy monsoon rains are lashing Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving nearly 150 people dead and hundreds injured. The full scale of financial losses has yet to be assessed.

During this ongoing spell of heavy rain, citizens often heard the phrase cloudburst. Literally, it means “bursting of clouds.” However, it does not mean clouds actually explode in the sky. Instead, it refers to sudden, extremely heavy rainfall over a very small area within a very short time.

In such cases, drainage systems collapse, and rainwater turns into destructive flash floods. Landslides, mudslides, and damage to infrastructure can follow. Experts explain the phenomenon using a simple comparison: clouds become like water-filled balloons that suddenly release their contents at once.

Cloudbursts usually occur in hilly regions. When moisture-laden air is forced upwards by mountain slopes, it rapidly cools and condenses. Once the clouds can no longer hold the water, it falls abruptly in massive amounts. By definition, a cloudburst means nearly 100 millimeters of rain falling within an hour or less, often in a concentrated zone.

While these events were once limited mostly to mountain areas, climate change is increasing their frequency in plains as well. Warmer air can store more moisture—about seven percent for every one degree Celsius rise in temperature. Pakistan has already witnessed several such incidents, including a record 123 millimeters of rain in Islamabad in 2021 and a deadly flash flood in Swat earlier this year.

Experts warn that with rising global temperatures, cloudbursts will become more frequent and more destructive, posing serious risks to human lives, agriculture, and infrastructure.