Investment in green technology imperative to mitigate severe impact of climate change.

RAWALPINDI -- The National University of Medical Sciences' (NUMS) scientific journal emphasized the urgent need for investment in emerging green technology and introduction of climate education in curricula for mitigating the impact of global warming, jeopardizing human health, especially of marginalized people.

In its latest editorial NUMS' 'Life and Science', an internationally-recognized academic journal, said, 'The footprint of climate change is becoming more extreme in South Asia; India, Pakistan and the Philippines' which are in the 'high bracket' of the vulnerability assessment, as reported by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Pakistan, a negligible contributor to climate change was severely hit by recent heavy rainfall and floods resulting in the loss of life and livelihood. The extreme weather conditions, it said, bring changes in air quality, natural calamities, and vector ecology which are negatively impacting human health. 'Human exposure to intense heat is associated with heatstroke, adverse pregnancy outcomes (including premature birth), acute kidney injury, disturbed sleep patterns, mental health problems, cancers and worsening of underlying respiratory and cardiac diseases,' said the editorial.

Life and Science, already added to Higher Education Commission's (HEC) Journal Recognition System (HJRS) said catering to the needs of the disaster-affected population remained 'a key challenge in terms of resource constraints, afflicted health systems, changing disease burden, the provision of shelter...