Global warming and the regions in the Middle East
- Univ. of Bahrain (Bahrain). Dept. of Civil and Architectural Engineering
The announcement of NASA scientist James Hansen made at a United States Senate`s hearing in June 1988 about the onset of global warming ignited a whirlwind of public concern in United States and elsewhere in the world. Although the temperature had shown only a slight shift, its warming has the potential of causing environmental catastrophe. According to atmosphere scientists, the effect of higher temperatures will change rainfall patterns--some areas getting drier, some much wetter. The phenomenon of warming in the Arabian Gulf region was first reported by Alvi for Bahrain and then for Oman. In the recent investigations, the authors have found a similar warming in other regions of the Arabian Gulf and in several regions of Sudan in Africa. The paper will investigate the observed data on temperature and rainfall of Seeb in Oman, Bahrain, International Airport in Kuwait as index stations for the Arabian Gulf and Port Sudan, Khartoum and Malakal in the African Continent of Sudan. Based on various statistical methods, the study will highlight a drying of the regions from the striking increase in temperature and decline of rainfall amount. Places of such environmental behavior are regarded as desertifying regions. Following Hulme and Kelly, desertification is taken to mean land degradation in dryland regions, or the permanent decline in the potential of the land to support biological activity, and hence human welfare. The paper will also, therefore, include the aspect of desertification for the regions under consideration.
- OSTI ID:
- 470982
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960420-; ISBN 0-884736-02-5; TRN: IM9722%%105
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 7. global warming international conference and exposition, Vienna (Austria), 1-3 Apr 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of The 7. global warming international conference and expo: Abstracts; PB: 154 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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