A flood affected woman fills drinking water from a partially submerged handpump near by her flooded house at Shikarpur in Sindh province, Pakistan, on Aug. 30. Photo: Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images
The devastating floods in Pakistan are the result of a "monsoon on steroids," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned in remarks Tuesday.
Driving the news: More than 33 million people have been impacted by the floods that have accompanied the start of the monsoon season in June. At least 1,130 people have died as a result, AP reported on Monday.
- Monsoons have hit Pakistan "earlier and more heavily than usual" this year, with more monsoons expected in September, per AP.
- Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's minister for climate change, dubbed the floods a "climate catastrophe" earlier this week.
- The extreme floods have been linked to climate change, as studies indicate that extreme precipitation events are becoming more intense and longer-lasting as global temperatures increase.
- USAID announced on Tuesday that it would provide Pakistan with an additional $30 million in humanitarian assistance to help it recover from the devastation caused by the floods.
What they're saying: "The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids — the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding," Guterres said, noting that "every province of the country has been affected."
- Guterres announced that the U.N. was launching a $160 million appeal to support the response to the floods and urged nations to step up and do their part to help.
- "South Asia is one of the world’s global climate crisis hotspots. People living in these hotspots are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts," he said.
- "Let’s stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change."
- "Today, it’s Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country."
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