Category Archives: Climate Change

Everything You Should Know About Atmospheric Rivers

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Atmospheric rivers actually mean rivers of water in our skies. But what is the science behind this phenomena that can become a very serious threat across regions of the globe. An atmospheric river (also known as AR) is a long and narrow flowing stream of water, actually condensed water vapour, in the atmosphere. It is capable of producing significant levels of rain and snow. When the atmospheric river moves across land and over mountainous terrain, the water vapour rises and cools to create very heavy precipitation or snowfall. Many atmospheric rivers are of moderate size but some are exceptionally powerful … Continue reading →

الذكاء الصناعي وإدارة التغير المناخي: آفاق جديدة لادارة التغير المناخي في الأردن

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بات التغير المناخي أحد التحديات العالمية الأكثر إلحاحًا والتي تواجه البشرية في القرن الحادي والعشرين. حيث يواجه الأردن –كغيره- من البلدان تبعات هذا التغير بما يشمله من نقص للموارد المائية والجفاف وارتفاع في درجات الحرارة. في ظل هذه التحديات، والتي تتطلب حلولاً سريعة ومبتكرة وقابلة للتطوير, يقدم (AI)أداة تكنولوجية واعدة تساهم في تعزيز القدرات الوطنية لإدارة التأقلم مع التغير المناخي, حيث تمكننا هذه التكنولوجيا من تعزيز فهمنا لتغير المناخ وتحسين عملية صنع القرار، وتطوير استراتيجيات أكثر فعالية للتخفيف والتكيف. كيف يمكن استعمال AI لادارة التغير المناخي؟ .1 تحليل البيانات الضخمة تعتمد الاستجابة المستدامة للتغير المناخي على التكامل بين قطاعات متعددة … Continue reading →

Why We Need to Stop Using Fossil Fuels? Understanding the True Impact

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Fossil fuels have a wide range of applications including generation of electricity, transport fuels, making products like plastics, cosmetics, and even certain medicines. But why scientists and environmentalist are fighting to end the use of fossil fuels and promoting solar and wind energy instead? The damage that fossil fuel cause to the environment is affecting the entire ecosystem. The impact is disastrous and haunting for the health of our planet. These damages are in some cases easy to see and evaluate such as pollution and land degradation. However, the damage can take various forms and be hidden and difficult to measure such … Continue reading →

Paris Agreement: Role of Effective Climate Governance Framework

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While many consider that history was made as industrialized and developing countries jointly agreed on the same climate policy framework for the first time ever; others alert that the Paris Agreement is only as good as its implementation plans and review mechanisms. Nevertheless, the Paris Agreement and the process around it demonstrate an exemplary model for global climate governance and climate policy advocacy. The question now is whether such international governance breakthrough could trickle down to the national and local levels across the globe. Countries and regions are challenged to move forward with the implementation leveraging the high momentum and … Continue reading →

The Challenges of Public Health and Environmental Stability

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The environment and the climate are all part of our daily life. We live and interact with the environment and the climate also influences our lives by moderating and impacting our environment. Regardless of which continent one focuses one, the concerns are similar across the globe. Many, many people across the globe live off the land. A large portion of the global population is totally dependent on agriculture and livestock farming. We call this subsistence farming. Regardless of nomenclature, these lives are hinged to and dependent on farming in an environment that is rapidly changing as the temperatures rise and … Continue reading →

Islamic Perspectives on COP

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It is a ripe time to reflect briefly on the upcoming COP from an Islamic perspective. By now everyone is well aware of the cause of severe climatic disturbances which affect us all and the poorest and most vulnerable in particular: sheer greed and unbridled, reckless, consumption. Islam has always provided the keys to a harmonious life in which humans refuse to take more from nature than they need for their sustenance and enjoyment. Islam has repeatedly warned about the imbalances and inequalities that would arise if one were not to follow its recommendations. God created the world in balance … Continue reading →

Air Quality in Abu Dhabi: Perspectives

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The air quality topic has taken relevance in the media lately, perhaps because 95% of the world’s population is breathing unhealthy air, or because in a year it can contribute to the deaths of more than 6 million people [1]. We are starting to realize that those beautiful sunsets which we enjoy across the Middle East are the result of pollutants and dust; and most likely each one of us know of someone with asthma or any other respiratory disease whose condition worsens under poor air quality. Poor air quality is more common in the big and developed cities instead … Continue reading →

Things You Should Know About Oceans and Marine Biodiversity

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Seventy per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered by the oceans. Its coral reefs are its rainforests and they teem with life, from minute plankton at the bottom of the food chain to giant whales, the largest animals that have ever lived. The biodiversity of the oceans is greater than that found on land and estimated to be between 50–80 per cent of the total. This rich marine biodiversity is suffering the same fate as its land-based cousins. Oceans play a major part in maintaining the CO2 balance, but like terrestrial ecosystems they suffer when this balance is disrupted. … Continue reading →

هل ستستطيع تونس الإيفاء بمساهماتها لخفض الانبعاثات من الغازات الدفيئة

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أظهرت الفيضانات الأخيرة التي عصفت بعدد من المحافظات التونسية أن تأثيرات التغيرات المناخيّة أضحت ملموسة أكثر من أي وقت مضى ، وهو ما أسال الكثير من الحبر حول مدى التزام تونس بمساهماتها  الوطنية المحددة لكبح جماح هذه الظاهرة التي أرقت العالم. وضعت تونس، وهي رابع دولة عربية قدّمت مساهماتها المعتزمة المحددة وطنيًّا في مجال خفض الانبعاثات من الغازات الدفيئة ، تغيّر المناخ في مرتبة متقدّمة على جدول أعمالها السياسي والاقتصادي باعتبارها  البلد الأول في المنطقة الذي ضمّن دستوره الوطني الجديد إقرارًا بتغيّر المناخ تفرض من خلاله الدولة  الحق في “بيئة سليمة ومتوازنة و المساهمة في سلامة المناخ بكافة السبل المتاحة”. كما تضمّن  المخطط الخماسي للتنمية … Continue reading →

Environment as a Peace-Building Tool

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The world is changing demographically, economically, politically and environmentally. The acquisition of natural resources, such as water, can be viewed as a threat to the international security. Severe environmental degradation can deepen regional divisions and trigger social conflicts for communities that depend on these resources for their livelihoods and fulfillment of basic needs. Moreover, the environment itself can be dramatically affected by such conflicts. The unprecedented demand for natural resources is fuelling ethnic conflicts, causing large-scale displacement and is a severe threat to the lands, livelihoods and the way of life of indigenous people. Infact, many of the bloodiest conflicts … Continue reading →

أثار التغير المناخي على مصادر المياه

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النقص الحاصل في كمية المياه العذبة في الشرق الأوسط و شمال إفريقيا يمثل خطرا حقيقيا في النمو الإقتصادي , التلاصق الإجتماعي , السلام و الإستقرار السياسي . علاوة على ذلك , إستهلاك المياه العذبة في هذه الأيام لم يعد يقتصر على توافرها الحالي و المستقبلي و إنما تعتمد على إحتياجات الإستهلاكية التنافسية قطاعياً و جغرافياً . و ما يزيد الأمر سوءا , أن هذا الوضع الرهيب بدأ بالتفاقم بسبب التغيرالمناخي السريع . التغير المناخي يؤثر على مصادر المياه من خلال تأثيره العميق على كل من كمية المياه , التوقيت  , التغير , الشكل و شدة الترسيب . منطقة الشرق الأوسط … Continue reading →

Qatar’s Fight Against Climate Change

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Qatar’s environmental records have always been in news, of course for the negative ones, but it has always strived to work towards reduction of GHGs emissions. Qatar is already doing plenty to help poor countries with financing and it seems unfair to focus on per capita emissions for a country with estimated population of 2.6 million making it the 143th most populous country on earth. (For climate talks, that is heresy). This may sound harsh, especially since Qatar’s contribution to global warming is tiny compared with the United States, China or India. In recent years, Qatar is making itself a … Continue reading →