Impacts of Climate Variability on Hanna Lake in Quetta, Pakistan

The most popular and beautiful spot of Urak valley— Hanna Lake, situated in the capital city Quetta (Balochistan, Pakistan), is shrinking affecting the surrounding environment and lake’s ecosystem. Lake completely dried thrice since 2001. One of the most stated reasons is a shortage of rainfalls due to climate change. Pakistan is ranked on 7th position in the list of most vulnerable countries to climate change with 141 extreme weather events. Linking lake drying to climate change seems to be an obvious connection in the absence of required historical records regarding temporal changes in the lake’s surface area and volume. Researching precise reasons is crucial to find appropriate solutions. This study took advantage of satellite-derived data to overcome the gap between recorded information. Changing lake surface areas from satellite images were compared with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rainfall records since 1984 to study any interconnection between them. It was found that since 2002, rainfall trend increases, whereas, lake area decreases. This gives rise to the impression that climate change has not caused any drop in lakes and other water bodies.