Libya floods and their relationship to climate change

Weather of Arabia - Libya was exposed to a storm called Storm Daniel, which struck the Libyan coast, resulting in the collapse of two water dams and the occurrence of floods that completely submerged residential areas, which resulted in the deaths of more than two thousand people, according to initial estimates, and the missing in the thousands.

Although floods are phenomena that occur from time to time in coastal areas, they have become more severe and frequent in recent years, and scientists attribute the reason to the phenomenon of global warming, as the European Union mission said that Libya is one of the countries in the world that has been most affected by the effects of climate change. It called for taking rapid action and planning to reduce the effects of these severe changes in the form of droughts, fires, floods, storms and other consequences on the country.

The occurrence of the Libya flood and its relationship to climate change

Warming of the Earth's atmosphere causes higher temperatures that dry out the soil and increase the likelihood of precipitation; Due to the increase in the percentage of humidity in the air, but rainfall in this case leads to some negative effects, which may appear clearly due to the lack of absorption of rainwater by the soil. Then the water spreads to areas farther than usual.

Year after year, the energy of coastal storms and hurricanes increases, and the reason is due to the rise in the temperature of the atmosphere and water bodies, which blow at stronger levels and thus increase the speed and intensity of the frequency of floods.

In addition, the rise in sea levels resulting from the melting of rivers and ice sheets has a role in the escalation in the incidence of coastal floods witnessed by the arid coasts of North Africa, which extend over a distance of more than 4,633 kilometers from the Gulf of Tunis to the Nile Delta, according to a study published in 2021.

North African countries, including Libya, are considered the most vulnerable to climate change problems on the African continent, and a research report issued by the European Commission adds that the damage of annual coastal floods in general may increase by 20 to 50 times; Due to climate change only, if appropriate measures are not taken to adapt to floods and adjust global average temperatures.

Sources:

aljazeera

elwatannews