Pakistan, May 30 -- Pakistan's climate emergency isn't a seasonal headline anymore. It is a constant, erratic intrusion into everyday life. According to the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA), there is a risk of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) events in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to rising temperatures and rains. A severe heatwave persists on the other end of the country, where Dadu broke a 10-year record on Friday as mercury hit 51.5degC.

Those two images - of ice melting too fast in the north and heat melting tarmac in the south - tell us more than any speech about how unprepared Pakistan is. Glacial lake outburst floods aren't new, but warmer air and heavier spring rains make them more frequent and unpredictable. Similarly...