DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The
Middle East is at high risk of water and food scarcity as well as severe
heat waves as a result of climate change, said a Greenpeace study released
Wednesday.
اضافة اعلان
Published only days ahead of the UN climate
conference in
Egypt, the report titled “Living on The Edge” focused on Algeria,
Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and the UAE.
It found the Middle East is warming nearly twice as
fast as the global average, making its food and water supplies “extremely
vulnerable” to climate change.
“In all six countries discussed in this report,
there will be a very high risk of water scarcity in all regions, which will
negatively affect agriculture and human health,” the report said.
Drought and water scarcity could impact crop yields
in future decades, which will exacerbate reliance on food imports, the report
added.
“The region as a whole is warming fast, with an
accelerated rate of 0.4°C per decade since the 1980s — nearly twice the global
average,” Kathryn Miller, science consultant at Greenpeace Research Laboratories
said in a statement.
By the end of the century, 80 percent of the densely
populated cities in the
MENA region were likely to suffer from heat waves for
at least 50 percent of the warm season, the report said.
In some locations, including in the Gulf region,
peak temperatures during extreme future heat waves could exceed 56°C.
Already, the consequences are being felt.
“Lives are being lost, homes destroyed, crops are
failing, livelihoods are jeopardized, and cultural heritage is being wiped
out,” said Greenpeace Regional Director Ghiwa Nakat.
“It is absolutely vital that we transition away from
fossil fuels and move towards energy independence,” Nakat said.
Major oil exporters including the UAE and
Saudi Arabia argue in favor of continued investment in fossil fuels to fund the
transition to clean energy.
The Greenpeace study came before UN’s COP27 climate
conference opens in Egypt on Sunday.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries will take
part in the latest round of climate negotiations.
COP26 last year ended with a pledge to keep global
warming at 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels — a goal the world is set to miss
on current emission trends.
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