‘Monster monsoon’: why the floods in Pakistan are so devastating

The climate crisis is the prime suspect, but the vulnerability of poor citizens and other factors are important too

The climate crisis is the prime suspect for the devastating scale of flooding in Pakistan, which has killed more than 1,000 people and affected 30 million. But the catastrophe, still unfolding, is most likely the result of a lethal combination of factors including the vulnerability of poor citizens, steep mountainous slopes in some regions, the unexpected destruction of embankments and dams, and some natural climate variation.

The horrific scale of the floods are not in doubt. We are witnessing the worst flooding in the history of the country," said Dr Fahad Saeed, a climate scientist with the Climate Analytics group, who is based in Islamabad.