Middle East Will Be Uninhabitable by 2100? - http://clapway.com/2015/10/27/middle-east-will-be-uninhabitable-by-2100123/

New reports reveal that most of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf may be uninhabitable by the end of the century. The region, which gave birth to civilization six millenia ago is the first to encounter temperatures that could rise to the point of being too hot for human survival.

A study released by Nature Climate Change suggests that most of the Middle East and its great cities, such as Dubai, Abu-Dhabi and Dubai’s holy city of Mecca could experience summer days that will just be too hot for human habitability, making it impossible for people to be outdoors for more than a few hours. The study predicts that the Persian Gulf may see these summers by the end of the century thanks to anthropogenic global warming.

Global Warming Could Bring Lethal Temperatures

From Dubai to Iran’s Bandar Abbas and all cities in between, temperatures could rise to lethal levels if climate change progresses as it has progressed thus far. Some climate experts were surprised by the findings because of the small deadline, the impact and urgency of climate change seems to be growing more daunting as time goes by.

Christoph Schaer, physicist and climate modeler at the Swiss Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, commented that threats to human health may be much more severe than previously thought, judged by the conclusions drawn by the study, and they may occur in the current century.

By using high-resolution climate models of the Persian Gulf, the study examined different scenarios for climate change over the coming decades. They focused on a key heat measurement known as the ‘wet-bulb temperature’ that includes humidity and evaporation rates averaged over several hours. The survivability limit for healthy people would be a wet-bulb temperature of 35C or 95F, and their studies concluded that by the year 2100, the Persian Gulf will be much beyond these temperatures.

Another Sign to Heed Climate Change

This new data urges people to take climate change as the most pivotal issue of our time. Once again the Earth itself seems to be giving warnings of changes that may not be pleasing to any of us, and a reminder that just as swiftly we came about, grew and developed, we can disappear. It’s ironic that where the human race began may be where it starts to end, and if global warming continues to be only a mild cause for concern, the whole planet could become a desert.

Stay Green and Hydrated with the HidrateME Bottle!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwnF1BfXqlA

Middle East Will Be Uninhabitable by 2100?

Lower Air Pollution in the Middle East is Sad #middleeast #airpollution #oil - http://clapway.com/2015/08/24/lower-air-pollution-in-the-middle-east-is-sad-242

Reductions in air pollution tend to be a cause for rejoice, but how can it be when its heroics are nothing short of barbaric? Reductions in air pollution in the Middle East mean that the region has been decidedly cursed with cleaner air. The air was clarified not by any bettering, social, green movements, but by conflict. In this case, the decrease is no sign of progress but a sign of unwavering misery.

Visualizing Air Pollution in the Middle East

Researchers consisted of a team of atmospheric scientists led by Jos Lelieveld. His team uncovered that in the region, nitrogen oxide emissions were experiencing a steady rise until 2010. What happened next is the exact opposite.

NASA’s Aura research satellite had a hand in obtaining atmospheric data for the scientists with its Ozone Measurement Instrument, hovering 700KM above Earth’s surface. With it, scientists were able to actually visualize nitrogen oxide emissions over cities within the Middle East and compare them with economic data from the World Bank. They were also able to compare these data sets with a timeline of major political events over the region.

The results of their study revealed something blatant, yet disturbing all the same: As war tore life in major Middle Eastern cities apart, air pollution in the Middle East was reduced. Why? Pollution is normally blamed on fossil fuels–driving, power plantations and industrial technologies. When war is all a region knows, how can life continue?

This Time, Reductions in Air Pollution is not a Pro

“It is tragic that some of the observed recent negative NO² trends are associated with humanitarian catastrophes,” researchers opined in their paper.

While it is not exactly accurate to call this reduction of air pollution in the Middle East harmful, the outcome of the study has taken another kind of centerpiece. It has given us a more emotional picture, tugging at shirt folds of human brutality, disheartening to say the least.

What was the Impact of the Quest for Oil in the Middle East?

What was the impact of UN and US sanctions on Iranian Oil? Mobilizing Syrian refugees? The interference of the Islamic State (IS) on Iraq? Though this may not sound commendable, the average advancing nation will see increases in air pollution (e.g. Asia). The Arab Spring’s, beginning in Tunisia, moving haphazardly through the nation, have seen overthrown governing bodies, civil warfare, and a decline in nation’s needs for modern advancement rather than nuclear artillery. Electrical energy was no longer a necessity but something closer to a luxury.

The air pollution in the Middle East declined so greatly due to a combination of air high quality management as well as political elements.

This study was published this week in Science Advances.

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News of the air pollution in the Middle East reveal the damage we are doing to our environment. Mother nature protests:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD63kwQuZ2I

Lower Air Pollution in the Middle East is Sad

#MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia could greatly disrupt the #hajj - http://clapway.com/2015/08/23/saudi-arabia-reports-6-new-cases-of-mers-232/

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia reported six new diagnoses of the Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. This number of new cases, which is the biggest since the last MERS outbreak in the middle of 2014, comes as Saudi Arabia is planning to welcome more than two million people to the Islamic holy city of Mecca for the yearly hajj.

MERS OUTBREAK POSES THREAT TO THE UPCOMING HAJJ

The danger of this virus spreading could very well increase as around 5 million Saudi students begin school on Monday after their summer vacation. In a statement on Saturday from the secretary for public health, he reports that the Ministry of Health is working alongside other public health authorities and agencies to contain the MERS infection.

MERS IS A PART OF THE SAME FAMILY AS THE COMMON COLD AND SARS

MERS a part of the same group of infections as SARS, which is spread in Hong Kong and southern China in both 2002 and 2003, and the common cold. It causes shortness of breath, fever, pneumonia and kidney failure.

The kingdom is currently considering a ban on sacrificing camels and sharing their meat with the poor during the hajj. This is a measure that is intended to stop the spread of the virus. The spread of the virus is believed to have started from infected camels to humans.

IN THE PAST, SAUDI ARABIA HAS BEEN CRITICIZED ON HOW THEY HANDLED PREVIOUS OUTBREAKS

During outbreaks in the past, Saudi Arabia has been criticized for what international health groups call a slow response leading to the outbreak of the MERS virus. Since the infection initially showed up in the region in 2012, the virus has infected more than 1,100 individuals and killed more than 480 people, as indicated by the Saudi Health Ministry. The main hospital in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz Medical City of the National Guard in Riyadh, emergency center and outpatient clinics stayed closed Sunday following the infection of a number of the patients and workers.

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If you haven’t already, check out Brandi’s News in Review segment:

Saudi Arabia Reports 6 New Cases of MERS

Syria: Rare Bird Threatened by ISIS Occupation of Palmyra - http://clapway.com/2015/05/25/syria-rare-bird-threatened-by-isis-occupation-of-palmyra123/

The terrorist organization known as “ISIS” has been taking control of essential territories in the Middle East, leaving hundreds dead in their wake, and piles of rubble in place of cities and artifacts. They threaten the stability in the Middle East and test the strength of the still developing armies in places like Iraq. Most recently ISIS has captured the historically significant City of Palmyra, killing over 200 as it lays waste to the ancient city. In capturing Palmyra ISIS proves to be a new type of threat. ISIS now greatly threatens the population of an endangered species known as the Northern Bald Ibis, and without intervention ISIS will cause the total extinction of the species.

 

Conservation Efforts Put On Hold Leaving Ibis Helpless

Many previous efforts have been made to ensure that the bird population not dwindle to a dangerously low level, and prevent the extinction of the species. In 2013 a few of the birds were moved to Europe for the first time since all of the Northern Bald Ibis were completely wiped out in Europe due to a lack of hunting regulations and other environmental causes, forcing them to die off in the region completely. Now they face an entirely new threat from the active combat present in the Syrian city of Palmyra.

As shots ring out and bullets fly, the conservationists in Palmyra are desperate to save the last of these Northern Bald Ibis that are left from extinction. Militant groups came into the city, causing many of the citizens charged with taking care of the endangered bird to flee for fear of losing their lives. Northern Bald Ibis in Palmyra once had a population of about 11 total birds, but this has been reduced now to only 3. Left behind are 2 male and 1 female Ibis. All three have not been moved out of Palmyra, because there is an egg that has not hatched, and cannot be moved without risking damage to the single egg that the 3 remaining birds have produced. ISIS proves to be a grave threat to the inhabitants in the Middle East, and to the historical artifacts that they will destroy. Although the fate of the 3 Northern Bald Ibis left behind is unknown, if there is no intervention to prevent the further destruction of Palmyra, it is likely that these 3 will prove to be the last of their kind.

Syria: Rare Bird Threatened by ISIS Occupation of Palmyra