Introduction. Global warming is the rise in temperature near the surface of the earth, caused mainly by the emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Global warming causes changes in weather patterns but it is only one aspect that is causing climate change. Over a long period of time, even decades will cause changes in precipitation, wind pattern and temperature. Greenhouse gases are like a blanket thrown over the earth, which traps it energy causing the earth to warm. Even though this is a natural process and is necessary to support all life on earth, too much greenhouse gases will result in the change in climate that ids dangerous to human and all other life on earth. Human beings in an effort to produce energy for various uses, are the main cause of global warming. Large amounts of CO2 and greenhouse gases are emitted in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy, as well as deforestation, various industrial processes and agricultural practices. The continuous warming climate will eventually cause drastic effect on the natural environment, which will affect water supplies and agriculture (food supply). It will affect power supply and transportation system as well as human health and safety.
Background. The United Arab Emirates has a coastline that spans about 1300 kilometers. The majority of its population and infrastructure are located in low lying coastal areas, which is near sea level. In many ways the United Arab Emirates are among the most vulnerable countries in the world in terms of the potential impacts of climate change (Mostafa K. Tolba, Najib W. Saab, 2009). Changes caused by global warming that are deemed to affect Arab countries significantly include but are not limited to increased temperatures, rising sea levels, and erratic rainfall. UAE are already in an area of the region that experiences water scarcity, aridity, now added to these non-luminous factors is the fact that Arab countries are among the highest energy consumers in the world, per capita (Hassan Radhi, 2010). 30 to 40 years ago the UAE was not producing and consuming so much energy but the discovery of oil in the 1950s and 60s lead to a dramatic economic transformation.
The dramatic increase in the UAE’s energy consumption was as a result of the fast growing economic expenditure triggered by a growth in the populous and major architectural projects of great scales (William W. Dougherty, 2009). The coastal areas in the UAE, are of great importance as they are the centers of commerce, industry and manufacturing, which means they are also highly populated. Apart from human habitation the UAE are habitats to various ecological systems and sites that artifacts and important cultural heritage. (William W. Dougherty, 2009). Therefore the impeding rise in sea levels, increase in CO2, water and atmospheric temperature, changes in wave climate and erratic precipitation, mainly an increase in its intensity, will endanger human life, ecosystems and infrastructure development.
Facts and Data. Arab countries already have a critical case of water scarcity, and is estimated to reach severe levels by 2025. The worsening situation is due to the fact that UAE human consumption of water is excessively higher than the international standard. Other contributing factors are man-made elements such as the prevalence of dams and irrigation practices that unsustainable these situation together waste approximately half the available water resources. A decrease in water bodies is imminent with the continuous increase in temperatures. It is expected that by 2025 there will be a 30% decrease in the Euphrates water flow and a significant 80% in the Jordon River (Mostafa K. Tolba, Najib W. Saab, 2009). The dwindling water resources will cause drought and the risk of wild fires will drastically increase. The effects of drought are exponential as it can cause agricultural crops to die, causing widespread starvation and diseases (Eventus Alternatives – Dubai, 2014), therefore the efficient management and conservation of water is a dyer issue. Since the majority of UAE economic activities, population and also agriculture are located at the coastal zone, this makes them vulnerable to sea level rise (SLR). The effects of SLR on the coastal areas can be flooding, and an increase in the salinity of soil and drinkable water resources. Studies have shown that a one meter rise of the sea level would directly impact, Arab coastal lands of about 41,500 km2 (Mostafa K. Tolba, Najib W. Saab, 2009).
The Food supply would face treat greater than anything experienced before, and this will affect basic necessities for human life. Aridity will become harsher, and as it expands, the changes in the length of the various seasons will cut agricultural production in about half, unless measures for mitigation are put in place (Vesela Todorova, 2010). Lastly. Human health will be affected mainly due to the erratic behavior of the weather, which will allow an increase in diseases from mosquitoes, the quality and availability of food and water, as well as water borne pathogens. The Arab region already has an annual infectious rate for malaria of approximately 3 million people. As the temperature increases, the incubation time for these disease vectors will be reduces allowing them to become more prevalent, thus increases the number of infected persons drastically (Mostafa K. Tolba, Najib W. Saab, 2009). Additionally, there will be more frequent sand storms in dessert areas, caused from a higher concentration of carbon dioxide, which will cause an increase in allergic reactions and pulmonary diseases. Therefore, there is a need to implement adoptive measure, urgently to mitigate the forecasted problems. The changes in the climate such as the increased temperature, less rainfall and the change in the length of the seasons, will require changes in the types of crops, fertilizers and irrigation practices being used (William W. Dougherty, 2009).
Real Cases of Incidents. The effects of global warming is not just what is to come in the next few years or decades, there are immediate effects caused from the changing climate such as heat waves, more intense storms and hurricanes, and more frequent temperature extremes. Here are a few global-warming related issues: According to Reuters from The guardian 2014, there was a landslide set off by torrential rains in the Ab Barak that forced an estimated two million people to be evacuated. In 2012, the worst flooding in more than fifty years was experienced by Indian residence. Tafline Laylin says residents of Saudi Arabia were warned to prepare themselves for extreme heat in the summer of 2012 around the time of Ramadan, it was expected to reach 500C in the shade. The highest temperature ever recorded in Mecca was 49.70C in August, 1980. In 2010, 46.7 acres of grassland and fruit trees were destroyed by fires in southern Lebanon, following the destruction of 75% of the bee population from the earlier winter freeze. Numerous persons had sought refuge in Jordan by residents of Ramtha, Irbid, and many other countries, which were in the top ten list for the world’s driest countries. And in 2011, Somalia experienced excessive, persistent droughts, where an estimated 2.4 million people, are in need of relief.
Conclusion. More than 200 natural disasters, mainly extreme temperatures, droughts, wildfires, storms and floods resulted in excess of 5800 deaths in the Arab region between 1990 and 2010 (Reuters 2010). These weather conditions, with the continuous increase in temperature are expected to escalate and intensify. In an effort to reduce victims of air and vector borne illnesses and rising rates of hunger and malnutrition caused by climate change/global warming the government and other bodies need to implement programs to ensure human sustainability reducing the energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.
References
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Dougherty, William W. (2009). Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability & Adaptation. Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi. Retrieved from http://sei- us.org/Publications_PDF/SEI-EAD-ImpactVulnerabilityAdaptation-09.pdf
Eventus Alternatives – Dubai. (2014). Retrieved from http://eventusalternatives.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/global-warming-in-uae-time-to- reduce-emissions/
Global Warming FAQ. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nmsea.org/Curriculum/Primer/Global_Warming/fossil_fuels_and_global_war ming.htm
Hassan Radhi (2010). On the Effect of Global Warming and the UAE Built Environment, Global Warming, Stuart Arthur Harris (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-149-7, InTech, Available from: http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/12173.pdf
Laylin, Tafline. (2012). The Wrath of Global Warming and the Middle East. Travel. Green Prophet. Retrieved from http://www.greenprophet.com/2012/07/the-wrath-of-global- warming/
Reuters. (2014). Afghanistan landslide: rescuers 'given up hope' – video. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/may/03/afghanistan-landslide-rescuers- given-up-hope-video
Todorova, Vesela. (2010). Global warming could spread disease, Arab nations warned. The National. Retrieved from http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/global-warming- could-spread-disease-arab-nations-warned
Tolba, Mostafa K., Saab, Najib W. Arab. (2009). Report of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development Impact of Climate Change on Arab Countries. Environment: Climate Change. Retrieved from http://www.afedonline.org/afedreport09/Full%20English%20Report.pdf
