Patterns of climate extremes in the coastal and highland regions of Balochistan, Pakistan

Climatic extremes have direct and indirect effects on an ecosystem, whereby thermal variations bring warm and cold weather, and hydrological anomalies cause droughts and floods. Changing patterns of 13 temperature and 11 precipitation extreme indices for a 36-yr period (1980–2015) for four cities of the Balochistan province of Pakistan (Pasni, Jiwani Khuzdar, and Dalbadin) were computed using RClimdex. A nonparametric Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimates were used to determine the statistical significance and magnitude of a trend, respectively. Most of the indices calculated for temperature extremes show statistically significant changes in their historic pattern, depicting a clear picture of warming in the regions. The indices calculated for precipitation extremes show statistically significant as well as nonsignificant results, depicting asymmetrical droughts in the region. If the patterns of humid weather with hot and wet extremes in the coastal cities of Balochistan continue for a couple of future decades, there will be challenges in implementing the multibillion-dollar Balochistan coastal development projects of the Pakistani port of Gwadar—a doorway to the Middle East for Chineseplanned business endeavors through Pakistan.