Other than being the last country in the Mid-East to forge a peace treaty with Israel, we are privileged to be the first one’s to taste Mother Nature’s fury:
Lebanon faces great changes if average temperatures rise 2-4 degrees Celsius over the next 100 years, as most climate change models forecast.
According to Wael Hmaidan, executive director of IndyACT, The League of Independent Activists, climate change in the Middle East will affect Lebanon first.
Woo hoo! We’re #1! So what do we win?
We’ll be getting the same amount of rain but over a fewer days, for starters.
“With the same amount of rain, but in a shorter period of time, it cannot seep into the soil. Instead it runs along the ground and washes into the ocean where it is lost. On its way it causes soil erosion, landslides and flash floods. This eventually leads to desertification.”
And of course there’s the obvious, as the temperature rises, snow days will be fewer. Less snow means less water, which will lead to droughts.
The government’s solution to the problem (surprised the government has a solution?) is to build 28 dams between now and 2019. By the way, 10 years in government talk is actually 50 in human years.
So while you are in Lebanon this summer, do make sure to take in the natural sites, they may not last too long.
Change in Lebanon’s weather could spell disaster to country's natural resources of forests and water.