Extreme Weather Resulting From Present-Day Climate Change

Regardless of where one is on the globe, the effects of climate change are very apparent and extremely threatening to the local inhabitants. These climatic threats are presenting themselves in four main ways, namely extended heat waves, devastating flooding, persistent droughts and extensive wildfires. These are presently the most destructive impacts of climate change, but there are other natural event occurrences. As well as the geo-physical impacts, there are also the accompanying increasing health risks, anxiety and stress issues, fatigue and exhaustion, just to name a few resultant factors. Right now with the summer in full swing in the northern … Continue reading

Dust Storms and Heatwaves – Extreme Weather Events Impacting Iraq

The people of Iraq, particularly in and around Baghdad, are being overwhelmed with the current weather conditions. Since April 20222, the region has been impacted by at least eight dust storms turning everything in the path of the storms orange. The dust storms are visible in satellite imagery as the systems are so intense. Such a high frequency of sandstorms enhances the desertification as the rainfall patterns have also diminished over recent years. Not only is the natural environment threatened beyond normal levels, but such dust storms create havoc on human health, especially respiratory disease and complications associated with respiration. … Continue reading

Why We Need to Use Technology to Fight Climate Change

Climate change is a colossal challenge, and it can seem like individual actions won’t be enough to tackle it, or that we don’t have the resources necessary. But neither of those are true. There are many individual actions we can all take that will help change the course of climate change. Many technologies available at both consumer and industrial levels can play a role, from simple things like switching to LED lights to complex processes such as building wind farms for renewable energy. With so many people consuming our valuable resources, science says humans are a main cause of climate … Continue reading

الإعلان الإسلامي للمناخ يدعو للتخلص من الوقود الأحفوري

أطلق قادة المسلمين من ٢٠ دولة الاعلان الاسلامي من اجل التغير المناخي لدعوة 1.6 مليار مسلم في جميع أنحاء العالم للنهوض بواجبهم الأخلاقي في التصدي لمسألة تغير المناخ في اطار واجباتهم الدينية .تم تبني هذا الإعلان من قبل ٦٠ مشارك في الندوة الاسلامية المعنية بتغير المناخ المنعقدة بإسطنبول في ال١٧ وال١٨ من شهر أغسطس لعام 2015 ، حيث دعا كافة الأطراف في “مؤتمر اتفاقية الأمم المتحدة الإطارية بشأن تغير المناخ”، الذي سيعقد في باريس في شهر ديسمبر القادم ويحضره زعماء العالم، ان يقوموا بإتخاذ قرارات والتزامات طموحة وملزمة قانونياً للدول المشاركة، لوقف التغير المناخي واستخدام الوقود الاحفوري عن طريق توفير … Continue reading

The Relationship Between Climate Change and Natural Disasters

Many natural disasters are directly linked with the climate change including floods, hurricanes, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and storms. Such disasters have claimed more than 600,000 lives in the past two decades. The frequency and magnitude of these disasters are increasing with time and is not going to subside even with the plans of reducing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and signing of climate change agreement at Paris. UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction recorded an average of 335 weather-related disasters between 2005 and 2014, an increase of 14% from 1995-2004, and almost twice the level recorded during 1985-1995. According to … Continue reading

Battling Climate Change: How You Can Help?

After abusing and depleting the Earth’s resources for hundreds of years, we are now faced with the harsh reality of climate change. The planet’s temperature is slowly rising and causing more erratic weather conditions with this last decade being the hottest on record. The time to act is now. Two artists have tried to communicate the urgency of this message by installing a ‘climate clock’ in Manhattan’s Union Square. This countdown warns that if our current greenhouse gas emissions do not slow down before the deadline, the damage we will have done will be irreversible. Given the looming window of … Continue reading

Why Giving Up Meat Is Essential To Mitigate Climate Change

Meat consumption is a staple of the modern diet. In the developed world, meat consumption has been rising consistently for decades. In the developing world, people eat less meat as they cannot afford the high cost of it. The scale of global meat consumption has grave environmental effects and intensifies Climate Change. This is as, “the global production of food is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases emitted by human activity” [1]. Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that the connection between meat consumption and the negative effects of Climate Change like global warming is something which needs … Continue reading

15 Inspirational Quotes On The Environment

With the New Year’s upon us, global citizens are beginning to think about their goals and what they want to accomplish in 2023. Many people focus on their finances, while others may be thinking about their health and relationships, students are more likely to think, “who could help with my homework” or “how to get a good grade”. Yet there is still one relationship that many people have forgotten: our relationship with Earth. In May of 2006, the film “An Inconvenient Truth” was released and for the first time in a long time, our environmental needs and causes was on … Continue reading

Energy Efficiency Perspectives for MENA

MENA countries are facing an increasing challenge in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia figure among the world’s top-10 per capita carbon emitters. In case of business-as-usual scenario, GHGs emissions from the energy sector will continue to rise throughout the region. According to a recent report by International Energy Agency (IEA), energy intensity demand in MENA is mainly driven by population and economic growth and reliance of heavy industries on generous energy subsidy. It is projected that primary energy demand in the region will be doubled by 2030 and the region’s … Continue reading

آثار تغير المناخ البشري المنشأ على النظم البيئية المختلفة

تظهر الأدلة العلمية أن تغير المناخ البشري المنشأ حقيقة ملموسة, حيث أنه يؤثر على مجموعة واسعة من أنواع الكائنات الحية وجيناتها وموائلها الطبيعية ﻭﺘﺸﻜﻴل ﻤﺠﺘﻤﻌﺎتها- بإختصار :على التنوع الحيوي .إن تسارع وتيرة التنمية البشرية لها تأثير واضح وكبيرعلى التنوع الحيوي , فمن المهم إدراك حقيقة أن الأنشطة البشرية في خلال القرنين الماضيين ومنها حرق الوقود الأحفوري هي السبب الرئيسي للتغيرات المناخية الحالية والتي تهدد التنوع الحيوي والخدمات التي تقدمها النظم البيئية .هنالك حاجة ملحة لفهم كيف يؤثر تغير المناخ على النظم  البيئية المختلفة وكيفية إرتباطه بالتنوع الحيوي إرتباطاً وثيقاً ؛حيث يعتبر تغير المناخ سبباً في وتأثيراً في نفس الوقت على … Continue reading

Climate Change Impacts in the Levant

Many countries in the Levant — such as Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria — are afflicted by water scarcity, weak institutional and governmental resource management, high food import dependency and fragile economies – all coupled with increasing populations and demand. According to the recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Arab World will be witnessing hotter and drier conditions with extensive droughts causing severe water shortages that will have dire impacts on agriculture and livelihood. Farmers in the Levant have been addressing climate change adaptation and resilience issues through farming, water management and environmental degradation. Global climate … Continue reading

Understanding Carbon Footprint

With rising awareness of global warming and effects of emissions on the environment, corporates and individuals alike are rising to tackle environmental issues. Carbon footprinting, the first step to reduce carbon emissions, is the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product. The main reason for calculating a carbon footprint is to inform decisions on how to reduce the climate change impact of a company, service or product. Carbon footprints are measured by undertaking a greenhouse gas assessment. Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be … Continue reading