THE “fingerprint” of climate change is on the devastating floods in Pakistan, experts said, after analysis found it was likely to have increased the amount of extreme rainfall.

Large areas of Pakistan experienced record-breaking monsoon rains from June 2022 in pulses that caused the Indus River to burst its banks over thousands of square kilometres and led to urban flash floods and landslides.

More than 33 million people have been affected and 1,500 have died, while homes, roads, health centres and schools have been destroyed or damaged, livestock killed, cropland ruined and there have been outbreaks of disease.

Friederike Otto, of Imperial College London, said: “What we saw in Pakistan is exactly what climate projections have been predicting for years.

“It’s also in line with historical records showing that heavy rainfall has dramatically increased in the region since humans started emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

“And our own analysis also shows clearly that further warming will make these heavy rainfall episodes even more intense.

“So while it is hard to put a precise figure to the contribution of climate change, the fingerprints of global warming are evident.”