'The Scale Is Chilling' Floods Offer A Devastating Glimpse Into Earth's Future

Ali Baksh stood on the embankment and pointed across the flooded landscape to the spot where his fields used to be. The 45-year-old farmer is sheltering in a makeshift camp only accessible by boat in the Sindh province of Pakistan along with more than 2,000 others forced to flee their homes as the floods hit.

- Shah Meer Baloch and Matthew Taylor

"There was no rain a few months back and there was a severe shortage of water for crops. We prayed for rain," he said. "But when it rained, we became homeless and our crops were destroyed. We have nothing left ... just oceans on roads, on farms and submerging our homes."

Pakistan has been battered by extremes of weather since the start of the year, with deadly heatwaves sending temperatures above 50C in the spring, followed by wildfires and droughts. But the floods that have left a third of the country's provinces underwater have brought a new level of human misery - and a glimpse into the apocalyptic impact of the climate emergency in one of the countries least responsible for causing it.

"I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world, but I have never seen climate carnage on this scale," said the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, on a visit to Pakistan earlier this month. "I have simply no words to describe what I have seen today."

The record monsoon that began in mid-June has devastated much of the country, with some areas receiving more than eight times more rain than usual. Torrents of water smashed through entire villages, destroying thousands of houses and 18,000 sq km of agricultural land has been swept away, along with roads and bridges.

In Sindh, which produces half the country's food, 90% of crops are ruined and an inland lake 100km wide stretches to the horizon after the Indus river burst its banks.

So far, the flood is estimated to have killed at least 1,400 people, with many tens of millions more losing their homes and their livelihoods. Huge financial costs - totalling $30bn so far - will further hit Pakistan's economy.