Experts on Monday warned that climate changes may turn parts of the world into desert, flooding, drought and death on an unprecedented scale in the decades to come if effective mitigation and adaptation efforts are not undertaken with immediate effect.

Experts on Monday warned that climate changes may turn parts of the world into desert, flooding, drought and death on an unprecedented scale in the decades to come if effective mitigation and adaptation efforts are not undertaken with immediate effect. They were addressing ongoing eight-day International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD) PhD Workshop 2015 with the core concept of ICDD arranged at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. The workshop was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Programme in which scientists from eight countries are taking part. University of Agriculture Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan while talking to the participants said that environmental degradation, air and water pollution, emission of smokes from factories, ozone layer depletion, deforestation and land degradation pose a series threat of climate changes. It can rise 0.5 C temperature in next 25 years, reducing all crop yield by 10 percent. He stressed upon the need to promote resilient crop to deal with the situation which was not only causing the food insecurity but also health hazard. He said that the loss in agricultural productivity will further aggravate the poverty and the food insecurity. He also called for installing effluent treatment at source to deal with discharge of polluted industrial sewage to fresh water reservoirs. Scientist Christian Mollmann from University of Kassel, Germany urged the scientists to come up with out-of-the-box viable solutions to address the issue of the climate changes. He said that increasing mercury, melting glacier and the damage to the ozone are creating the problems of health and food insecurity and reducing the income of farming community. He called for joint effort for addressing climate changes issue in order to sustain population with a good quality of life. Dr Izhar Ahmad said world had increasingly become cautious of environmental degradation. In the case of our country, it is facing serious challenges of pollution of air, water and land. He said heat-waves, droughts, floods, and up-warding seas are the threats that are intensifying through warming. UAF Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization Director Dr Asif Ali said that Asia experienced the worst climate-related disasters in the last decade. He said that the time has come to find the solutions to the issues. He said that climate change and its adverse consequences pose a frightening scenario for the world.