Scientist's crucial chapter in UN report on Middle East climate



man smiling
Hesham El-Askary, Ph.D.

Hesham El-Askary, Ph.D., assistant professor of Earth Observation and Remote Sensing in the Department of Physics, Computational Science and Engineering, has published an important chapter in the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP)  new report on climate in the Middle East, the
Environment Outlook for the Arab Region
(EOAR).  Dr. El-Askary wrote
Chapter 7: Atmosphere
for this vital report, which relates the multiple challenges facing the Arab region,  from climate change and food insecurity to decreasing water availability and unemployment.  

The report is now available in Arabic here:
http://www.unep.org/dewa/westasia/eoar/
, and will soon be available in English (that version is now in preparation).  Executive summaries on the report are available on the website in English.  The EOAR was  compiled at the request of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) says important progress is being made to address sustainability,


Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: “This assessment has been a truly collaborative one, outlining the progress but also the realities facing this diverse but also dynamic region where if policies and resources are better focused could be a beacon of sustainable, green economic development for millions of people.”

 ”One factor that is both a persistent but also an emerging challenge is water. The EOAR notes that Arab countries are now among most water-scarce in the world and that there has been a worrying decline in per capita water availability with an average of only 1 000 m3 per inhabitant per year, as of 2008,”  he added. “Climate change is likely to aggravate these trends. Thus it is in the interests of nations across the region to constructively engage in the climate change negotiations as countries look to Mexico and the UN climate convention meeting later in the year,” said Mr Steiner. The new report, launched at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo, was prepared in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States (LAS), the Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), as well as the Arab Specialized agencies and Global Environment Outlook collaborating centers in the region. The report, including the chapter by Dr. El-Askary, says that the Arab region is predicted to be among the hardest hit by the potential of direct and indirect impacts linked with climate change.Impacts include loss of coastal zones, more severe droughts and desertification, increased groundwater salinity, and a surge in epidemics and infectious diseases.
 

Dawn Bonker

Add comment

Your Header Sidebar area is currently empty. Hurry up and add some widgets.