Pakistan date workers face rising heat

In July, during the date harvest season in Pakistan's southern Pakistan — Sindh province, temperatures regularly reach the mid-40s Celsius. Date laborers in Pakistan — Khairpur District district, which produces more than half of Pakistan's dates, work in extreme heat, often suffering heatstroke, fainting, and fever. Workers like Muhammad Idrees, who has worked the harvest for over a decade, say the heat has become unbearable and harsher each year. Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change despite contributing less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, has experienced increasingly frequent heatwaves, erratic monsoon rains, and devastating floods, including the catastrophic 2022 floods that inundated about one-third of the country. Date farmer Shahnawaz Phulpoto, who owns over 1,500 palm trees, noted that heavy monsoon rains from shifting weather patterns have hampered date crops and caused financial losses. Pakistan is the world's fifth-largest date producer, normally earning more than $120 million a year in exports. The rising temperatures are making agricultural work more difficult and dangerous, affecting the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and seasonal laborers.