Rain and wind.. Aden suffers from climate change
English - Wednesday 26 July 2023 الساعة 04:50 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The capital, Aden, was hit by a thunderstorm accompanied by strong winds, which caused material and human damage. Amid continuing UN and international warnings of the danger of extreme climatic phenomena and fluctuations in light of the humanitarian and living situation in Yemen.
The winds that hit Aden at dawn on Monday, July 24, were strong and unprecedented. It uprooted trees, electricity and lighting poles, and billboard bases. Not to mention the destruction of some house walls, wooden roofs and iron railings.
The sudden storm also caused the electricity and communications services to go out in the areas of Al-Mualla and Khormaksar, in addition to stopping the movement of flights at Aden International Airport.
According to local and security sources, a number of minor injuries were recorded for citizens who were subjected to falling columns, walls and window panes at Aden Airport and residential homes. The health facilities provided the necessary emergency services for the injured. The sources pointed out that there is significant material damage to the property of citizens and government facilities, including Aden International Airport.
Previous warnings
The storm came days after warnings issued by the United Nations of the return of floods and weather disturbances, which are expected to hit a number of Yemeni governorates during July until next August.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) expected that a number of Yemeni governorates would witness floods due to the possibility of heavy rains, and estimated the number of people affected by these floods at 1,500, calling for vigilance and caution.
These warnings come with the increase in the number of people affected by the heavy rains and floods that hit Yemen from the beginning of March until the end of last June, to more than 300 thousand people, according to the latest data, while more than 44 thousand families, numbering 308 thousand people in more than from 100 districts in 19 governorates.
Yemen is not isolated
According to researchers and specialists, Yemen will not be isolated from climatic changes in the world, although the country does not have any heavy industries that contribute to climate change, as is the case in some developed countries.
In recent years, climate change epics have begun to emerge in Yemen, through the diversity of rainfall amounts, the recurrence of tropical storms in seasons other than previously known, in addition to the escalating risks of drought and desertification in the country, which faces difficult humanitarian and living conditions.
The escalation of victims of climate change confirms that the awareness programs provided to citizens are insufficient to deal with and adapt to sudden climatic changes. In addition, development projects in benefiting from the amounts of rain are still weak, as water seeps into the sea and is not stored to increase the water reserves of the country and confront drought and the risk of desertification, which is greatly expanding in Yemen.
Bassam Al-Qadi, a scientific journalist specializing in covering climate and environmental issues, explains to NewsYemen: What we are witnessing in terms of wind storms, sand or sudden rains, are only the results of the climate changes that the world is witnessing. Unlike other countries, Yemen is one of the countries that are greatly affected by climate change, and this has recently emerged through storms and hurricanes that swept through some provinces and caused great human and material damage.
He added: Climate changes have many impacts, both health, economic and social, and this emerged a lot in Aden during the wind storm that the city witnessed, which caused great damage to the infrastructure, including Aden International Airport.
Al-Qadi pointed out: The areas surrounding Aden Airport are desert and sandy, and the strong winds turn into a strong sandstorm, which rises to atmospheric levels and affects, along with other factors, causing sudden climate changes, weather conditions, and high temperatures to record and unprecedented levels.
Journalist Bassam Al-Qadi points out that Aden's location and its decrease from sea level made it among 10 countries in the world threatened with drowning due to climate changes, according to international studies.
Climate change risks
During the past few days, the highest average temperatures ever were recorded in the countries of the world, according to data from the US National Centers for Environmental Forecasting. The average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius, but this figure changed to reach the average global temperature of 17.23 degrees Celsius. While the highest number of temperatures was recorded in August 2016, when it reached 16.92 degrees Celsius.
The new heights highlight the slow pace of global efforts to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which was expressed by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres by saying: "Climate change has become out of control."
"If we insist on delaying the key measures required, we will be heading towards a catastrophic situation, as the last two temperature records show," Guterres added, referring to global temperature records that were broken this year.
Climate change resulting from human activities affects many extreme climatic phenomena in every region around the world, and they appear in the form of long heat waves and droughts, as well as torrents and flash floods, and this leads to huge losses and damages to nature and people.
The scientific journalist, Bassam Al-Qadi, points out to "Newsyemen": that the climate changes taking place in the countries of the world have become one of the main threats at the present time, because of their disastrous effects on all levels, whether economic, environmental, health, social, or even on the level of achieving food security.
He added that there are scientific and specialized studies and research in the aspect of climate variables, which confirmed that Yemen is witnessing continuous climate changes that have doubled the humanitarian crisis that the country has been experiencing for 9 years.
Al-Qadi pointed out that hurricanes and destructive storms have recently become more frequent, and the city of Aden has been exposed to many of these storms, which left a lot of losses and damages. The city has also become a barren, barren area due to the spread of desertification that has dominated the city, and the lack of trees and green spaces that help improve the environment and confront pollutants that lead to global warming.
He explained that Aden had a green belt of trees, farms and reserves, but the extension, random construction and urban expansion destroyed the green areas and turned them into arid areas. Because of these changes, Aden has become one of the cities witnessing a significant rise in temperatures.
Many damages
While the Yemenis rejoice in the rains and consider them a blessing, at the present time they have turned into a curse through the great damage caused by the heavy rains that turned into floods. In recent years, Yemen has been exposed to a number of hurricanes and rainstorms that destroyed homes and agricultural lands and caused and increased the level of damage to the population, especially in the health aspect.
Dr. Hanan Awad, a doctor in Aden, believes that one of the reasons for the spread of serious diseases and epidemics is due to rain and environmental pollution. With the rains, fevers return to the fore and stronger than before, and this was witnessed by the capital, Aden, during the past years, which witnessed a frightening escalation in the number of infections and deaths due to fevers. The rains create swamps that are a suitable environment for the breeding of disease-carrying mosquitoes, in addition to sweeping away garbage to populated areas, increasing their humidity, which causes an increase in the multiplication of bacteria and viruses.
She added: The rising fumes from the power stations in Aden represent an additional threat to the health of citizens in the city and result in an increase in allergic patients in the respiratory system and skin, even some types of cancer, heart disease and other diseases.
