Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity and ...

FOR CITATIONS: Salem, H.S., 2008. Impacts of climate change on biodiversity and food security in Palestine. Paper for the International Conference on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Food Security in the South Asian Region”. In Neelima Jerath, Ram Booj and Gurharminder Singh (Eds.) “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Food Security in the South Asian Region, 2010”. Sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), Chandigarh, India, November 3-4, 2008. (International Conference Paper). http://www.academia.edu/917251/ Impact_of_Climate_Change_on_Tree_Species_Diversity_of_Hill_Forests_of_Bangladesh

Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Food Security in Palestine Hilmi S. Salem Future Vision, Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine

ABSTRACT Global warming in the last century was fast enough that the resultant shifts in species ranges may have led to extensive biodiversity losses. The biodiversity of Historical Palestine (including the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)) is considered one of the 25 recently-dened as “global biodiversity hot spots”. The biodiversity in this region of the world is predominantly rich, as it is positioned at a cross-road between African, Asian and Mediterranean bio-geographic regions, each contributing to its different species. The speed and magnitude of climate change may elicit different responses at different levels of ecological organizations, namely the population, the species, and the community, as well as the whole ecosystem level. On the other hand, as a result of global warming, the agricultural sector in Palestine has been badly affected, particularly in the last two to three decades, which has been reflected on the food security. The climate change, added to the severe water shortages and the political instability in the region, has resulted in endangering or even loss of biodiversity, and in the high prices of agricultural and other products. These consequences have certainly led to further instability in the Middle East, in general, and to the increase in poverty and unemployment

Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Food Security in Palestine

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levels in Palestine, in particular. It is important to mention here that the political and geopolitical actions taken by Israel against the Palestinian people and their lands, such as the confiscation of lands, on which Israel has built the Segregation Wall and the hundreds of settlements, have been deemed as illegal according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). These Israeli illegal actions have badly deteriorated the environmental status, including the water sector, which has directly affected the biodiversity and the food security in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The predicted climate change will have many negative impacts on the OPT. These impacts would include increased scarcity of water resources, droughts, desertification, increased salinity of surface water and groundwater, greater frequency of sever climate events (such as heat waves, storms’ intensity, rapid spread of diseases, etc.), and decrease in, and even loss of, biodiversity, as well as sea-level rise. All of these climate-change impacts have led and will lead to, among many other consequences, agricultural reduction and crop failure, higher prices of products, and migration of population, known as “environmental migration”, which will create “environmental refugees” who will be pushed inward to lands that are currently heavily populated.

INTRODUCTION This paper discusses climate change impacts on Eastern Mediterranean, with a particular emphasis, on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), which have been militarily occupied by Israel since June 1967. The OPT, as internationally recognized, is comprised of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, with a total area of approximately 6,000 km2. According to the “Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change” (IPCC), the “Center for Strategic and International Studies” (CSIS) and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), the average global temperature is expected to rise, by the end of the 21st Century, by a range of 1.3–5.8°C (Campbell, et al., 2007). However, there is still a lack of data about projected climate change at the regional scale. The predicted climate change will have many negative impacts on the Eastern Mediterranean region and, in particular, on the OPT. These impacts would include increased scarcity of water resources, droughts, desertification, increased salinity of surface water and groundwater, greater frequency of sever climate events (such as heat waves, storms’ intensity, and rapid spread of diseases (Salem, 2008a)), and decrease in, and even loss of, biodiversity. All of these climate-change impacts, along with the sea-level rise, will lead to agricultural reduction and crop failure, as well as migration of population, known as “environmental migration”, creating “environmental refugees” and pushing them inward to lands that are currently heavily populated.

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Climate Change, Biodiversity and Food Security in the South Asian Region

The sea-level rise, resulted from climate change, poses a particular threat to Eastern Mediterranean cities that have heavy concentrations of population and economic activity along the coast. A typical example on this situation in the OPT is the Gaza Strip. The OPT is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as it lacks the resources to prepare for potential hazards. The climate change impacts will and should lead people to take new measures, actions and strategies that aim to engage them in combating climate change, by changing their mindset and utilizing the situation to catalyze actions for long-term improvements. In this paper, attention is focused on two primary issues, as related to the impacts of climate change, which are biodiversity and food security. The paper specifies, in some detail, both issues (biodiversity and food security) within scientific plausibility, as related to climate change and under the political and geopolitical influences. The impacts of climate change have been considerably accelerated in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as a result of the geopolitical situation and political actions that have been taking place in the OPT, over the last 41 years and counting, at the hands of the Israeli government and its authorities against the indigenous population of the land – the Palestinian people. The two issues (biodiversity and food security) consider environmental, economical, social and security consequences, along with political and geopolitical causes and consequences.

HISTORICAL PALESTINE, INCLUDING THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (OPT) History Historical (or Mandate) Palestine (including the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and the State of Israel), within its small land area (about 27,000 km2), is characterized by a dry-land ecological system and a natural habitat prevailed by significant topographical and climatic variations. This is a unique phenomenon for the Middle East and the Mediterranean region. Being located in West Asia, at the edge of the Fertile Crescent and to the East of the Mediterranean Basin, Historical Palestine has been the center of origin and distribution of human civilizations through the mankind history. The region’s long history of local indigenous and invading cultures, and human movement for trade and politics have made Historical Palestine a migratory route for exchange and dispersion of crops, seeds, flowers and animal species. Many species have, thus, entered the region throughout the history, making Historical Palestine a realm of significant biodiversity.


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Location and Demography As indicated above, the OPT is comprised of two separate geographical regions: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The West Bank is located on the central highlands of Historical Palestine, just above the Jordan Valley, while the Gaza Strip runs along the South-eastern Mediterranean. The OPT, located between 31° 13’ and 32° 33’ Latitude, and between 34° 13’ and 35° 34’ Longitude, comprises a total area of 6,023 km2, where the West Bank covers 5,661 km2 and the Gaza Strip covers only 362 km2. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the population of the OPT is about 4 million for the year 2007, including about 2.5 million in the West Bank and about 1.5 million in the Gaza Strip (PCBS, 2008). In recent years, the estimated natural population growth rate for the Palestinians in the OPT is 3.5% (3.1% in the West Bank and 3.7% in the Gaza Strip), comprising one of the highest growth rates in the Middle-East region and worldwide. The average population density in the West Bank is 432 capita/km2 of the total area, and is 6,842 capita/km2 of the total-built area (PCBS, 2006). While in the Gaza Strip, the average population density is 3,981 capita/km2 of the total area, and is 7,485 capita/km2 of the total-built area (PCBS, 2006), making the Gaza Strip the most densely populated area on the face of Earth (Salem, 2008b).

Climate The climate in Historical Palestine is typically Mediterranean, with a long, hot and dry summer; a short, cool and rainy winter; and a drier-than-spring autumn. Both of the temperature and evaporation rate increase towards the south and the east. Based on the geographic attributes and geomorphologic and topographical characteristics, Historical Palestine is recognized as rich and diverse, composed of five climatic zones. These are the coastal zone, the semi-coastal zone, the central highlands zone, the eastern slopes zone, and the Jordan-Valley zone. The average annual rainfall in these five zones ranges from less than 50 mm to 800 mm annually, depending on the location, with almost 70% of the annual rainfall occurs between November and February (Salem, et al., 2007). As a result of climate change, the impacts on rainfall, evaporation, desertification, storm intensity, etc., have been considerably felt in many areas around the world, including the OPT which has been already suffering from severe shortages of natural resources, particularly water.

Biodiversity In terms of richness of biological diversity (biodiversity), the area of Historical Palestine host over 4,000 plant species, 120 mammal species, 500 bird species, 100 reptile and amphibian species, about 1,000 fish species, and an unknown number (somewhere

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between 5,000 and 10,000) of insect species, as estimated by Zohary and FeinbrunDothan (1984). Although accurate figures are hard to find, some of these species live under actual threats of degradation and extinction, taking into consideration that many of them are classified as “endangered species”. Each of the five climatic zones (mentioned above) is dominated by rather common type of chorological and geographical flora and fauna characteristics.

Agriculture Historical Palestine is generally an agricultural country, with the Occupied West Bank being viewed as the largest agricultural producer. Agriculture makes up a large part of both the Palestinian economy and land use, representing 30% of the Palestinian Gross National Product (GNP), with more than 50% of the population benefiting directly from agricultural production. In terms of land use, only 31% of the land in the OPT is cultivated, with another 32% classified as grazing land, while the remaining is classified as urban and barren land. Of the cultivated area, 28% is considered rainfed, and 3% is irrigated mainly for vegetables. In the OPT, fruit production is Table 1: Extreme Weather Events in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) during the Last Few Years: 1997-2004 Date

Event

March 18-19, 1997 A heavy storm hit the central and southern parts of the West Bank, which was the second heaviest storm to occur in March in the past 60 years. July-Aug., 1998 The hottest summer in the past 35 years in the region, as temperature rose up to 46.8°C in the city of Jericho. Sept.-Nov.,1998 The driest and warmest autumn in the past 58 years. Jan. 24, 1999 Hail-storm hit Jerusalem, with hail-stones as big as marbles (about 1.3 cm in diameter). Nov. 28, 1999 Unusually cold and dry weather. Temperature in Jerusalem reached down to 6 oC below zero. July 2000 Hottest month of July in the last 50 years, with a mean temperature of 4oC higher than average. The highest recorded temperature (41oC) in Jerusalem since 1888. Feb. 2003 The wettest month since December 1991, and the wettest February ever recorded. May 29-30, 2003 Lowest pressure (995 mb) ever recorded in May, accompanied by an incredible sand-storm that covered the entire OPT and the region, with thick red sand and dust. May 9-10, 2004 Very intense heat affected the OPT, especially during the night of May 9, when 32 oC was recorded in Jerusalem. Amazingly, the following night’s temperature in Jerusalem was 20 oC lower than noon’s temperature. Source: Salem et al., 2007


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signicantly a commercial and, to a large extent, primary source of revenue for agricultural areas. It is extremely vulnerable to damage from temperature ex-tremes, as the OPT has experienced, in the last two to three decades, minimum temperature extremes as well as maximum temperature extremes and, generally, severe weather extremes (Table 1). The following are some expected climate-change (directly or indirectly related) impacts on agriculture in the OPT (Salem, 2008c). Further details are given below under “deforestation, desertification and land degradation, with respect to climate change”: • • • • •

Increase of temperature and frequency of extreme events will reduce crop yields (some crops are more tolerant than others). Modication of mean temperatures will induce changes of the agricultural distribution of crops. Increase of temperature will negatively affect marginal land and its farmers. Scarcity of water resources will force farmers to abandon marginal land and, thus, will increase desertication. Socio-economic impacts, associated with loss of agricultural and other related jobs, will result in increases in rates of unemployment and in loss of income, as well as in political disorder.

DEFORESTATION, DESERTIFICATION AND LAND DEGRADATION WITH RESPECT TO CLIMATE CHANGE Deforestation Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change, causing as much as 30% of global greenhouse-gas emissions (Johnson, 2008). For example, as a result of the deforestation of, and the land clearing in, the Amazon forests, Brazil has become the world’s forth largest contributor to global warming, which has led to harming the global climate (Manneh, 2008). Such an example on deforestation and land clearing, contributing strongly to climate change, should encourage the governments around the world to take decisive actions on the ground to halt deforestation and land clearing anywhere in the world. Some international organizations have already taken some steps towards that end, by ensuring that deforestation is included in the next phase of the Kyoto-Climate Agreement extending beyond 2012 (Global Climate Action “GCA”, 2007; Arab Climate Alliance “ACA”, 2008), in order to reduce the greenhousegas emissions. Deforestation and land clearing have destructive effects on the climate globally, by disrupting the natural carbon-sequestration process. In this process, carbon dioxide

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(CO 2 ) is absorbed from the atmosphere by trees, plants and crops through photosynthesis, and is stored as carbon in biomass (tree trunks, branches, foliage and roots) and soils. Trees that sequester carbon, when subjected to anthropogenic disturbances, can suddenly or gradually release the carbon back to the atmosphere. Practices that increase carbon losses and that decrease sequestration generally devastate the quality of soil, water, air, wildlife’s habitat, and the ecosystem in general. Regarding the OPT and according to the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN), Israel has been uprooting, on average, one tree per minute in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with these trees constituting an important source for sustaining livelihoods of Palestinians in the OPT (APN, 2005). About 1.4 million trees have been uprooted by the Israeli authorities in the OPT in the period of 2001-2005 (APN, 2005). Only between the years 2001 and 2003, the total number of the trees uprooted in the OPT by Israel is estimated 1.1 million. These include 263,000 olive trees, 356,000 citrus trees, 113,000 forest trees, 69,000 stone fruit trees, 51,000 grape vines, 18,000 banana trees, 23,000 palm trees and 251,471 other kinds of trees (Abdelrahman, 2005; Salem, 2008d). In addition to the trees uprooted in the OPT by Israel, as related to the building of the Segregation Wall (Table 2) and the settlements and other activities as well (see McMahon, 2005), Israel has uprooted millions of trees since it occupied the Palestinian Territories in 1967, in order to build the Jewish settlements, the bypass roads, the military bases, and the check points, as well as the Segregation Wall. Table 2: Changes in the Route of the Segregation Wall between June 2004 and April 2007 Date of Change

Wall Length (km)

Area Isolated (km²)

% of the West Bank Area

June 2004

645

633

11.2

February 2005

683

565

10

April 2006

703

555

9.8

April 2007

770

713

12.6

Source: ARIJ, 2007

For example, to build the Jewish settlement of Jabal Abu Ghnaim (or Har Homa, as the Israelis call it), Israel has uprooted from that area alone, so far, more than 60,000 pine trees, just in the last 10 years (1997-2007) (Fig. 1). It is noteworthy to mention that the Jabal Abu Ghneim settlement is only one example of more than 200 Jewish settlements built illegally on Palestinian lands in the OPT, and, as a result, an enormous number of trees in the OPT were uprooted. So, it is no wonder that politics is a primary and very strong contributor to climate change in the Middle East, in general, and the Eastern Mediterranean, in particular.


Fig. 1: The Israeli Settlement of Jabal Abu Ghneim (Har Homa) in the Occupied West Bank, as Developed during the Last 10 Years (1997-2007)

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Desertification In addition to the Israeli-made deforestation phenomenon in the OPT, which has strongly contributed to climate change, the desertification and land degradation are other phenomena that have also contributed, strongly, to climate change in the OPT and the region. The biodiversity wealth in the OPT, similar to the water resources, is getting less and less over the time, as huge areas of the Palestinian lands became year after year under the Israeli control and, thus, under severe environmental destruction. As a result, lands have been confiscated (or left closed) by the Israeli authorities, as being used for Israeli settlements, roads, infrastructure, military bases and even for protected areas. No accurate figures for the state and rate of biodiversity degradation in the OPT are available. The destruction of habitats and vegetative covers is of critical concern that must be dealt with immediately, as it is related to climate change in Eastern Mediterranean, in particular, and the Middle East, in general. Practices of genetic erosion of species and desertification are common phenomena in areas such as the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

LAND (SOIL) DEGRADATION Regarding the land degradation, soils are degraded as a result of many factors, including erosion, acidication, fertilization and salinization. Two categories of the soil deterioration process are recognized in the OPT. These are displacement of soil material (e.g., soil erosion by water and wind), and in-situ soil deteriora-tion, covering chemical and physical soil degradation. Incorrect agricultural management and related practices, including, among others, water scarcity, uncontrolled domestic and industrial dumping sites, and the heavy usage of fertilizers and pesticides are important factors that are partially causing in-situ soil deterioration in the Occupied West Bank. Of course, the Israeli occupation exacerbates soil degradation, by conscating and closing large swathes of Palestinian lands in the OPT. These practices and the Israeli strict control of the OPT have together increased pressure on the land that Palestinians retain access to, encouraging overgrazing and intensive farming practices, besides creating a highly disturbed environment, whereby planning and executing sustainable land management schemes have become extremely difficult and, in some cases, impossible. Causes of soil degradation in the OPT can be further divided into anthropogenic (man-made) causes and non-anthropogenic (natural) causes. The manmade causes embrace political and socio-economic factors and existing land-use practices (as discussed above), whereas the natural causes include climatic changes (such as changes in the rainfall intensity, temperatures, etc.). However, the paramount


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risks that threaten the soil quality in the OPT are concisely described and highlighted as following:

Erosion In most cases, erosion occurs on the surface layers of the soil, which are rich with organic materials. This process is the cause of natural and non-natural factors. The natural factors are the response of climatic change phenomenon, namely air and water transport of soil particles. However, the non-natural factors (man-made) are more tangible in the OPT. On the one hand, the Israeli violations taking place on the Palestinian soils are of a direct cause. These violations are presented in the processes of trees uprooting and construction of the Israeli settlements, bypass roads, military bases, Segregation Wall and segregation zones. These practices have led, directly or indirectly, to the Israeli destruction of the Palestinian environment. On the other hand, the misuse of arable lands by Palestinians has also led to the destruction of the natural land cover that stabilizes the soil cover.

Desertification The Palestinian lands suffer from the desertification consequences, based on the fact that desertification is a huge problem affecting the whole region. The results of this phenomenon are the decreases in the biological production and in the fertility of arable lands.

Dry or Rain-Fed Farming This type of farming depends on the annual average of rainfall. The farming operations, conducted in the cultivated lands located within the dry and semi-dry regions in the OPT, have resulted in destabilization of the soil cover, which causes deterioration of the soil particles. This, in turn, has led to the decrease in the fertility rates of arable lands, where the affected particles lost much of their ability to absorb the rainfall, leaving them susceptible to percolate to the underneath soil layers. Furthermore, the cultivation of lands in dry periods, as happens in the OPT, has made the surface soil more susceptible to air erosion.

Ecosystem Degradation The loss of balance between the major elements of the surrounding environment (plants, animals, soils, water, air, etc.), because of the unsustainable use of humans to natural resources, has caused the decrease in quality of soils, and, consequently, the decrease in production of the arable lands.

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FOOD SECURITY AND WATER SCARCITY Food security is defined as follows: “When all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 2002). Food security includes the availability of food, and the ability to access and make use of food. The availability of food depends on local production and imports. The ability to access food depends on how people are able to grow and/or buy their own food, which assumes markets for local products and labor, including labor costs relative to food costs. Looking at the food security situation in the OPT indicates that the Palestinians in this troubled region of the world are suffering from lack of food security, with all the meaning of the word. In contrary, they have what is preferably being called “food insecurity”. This is mainly because of the political and geopolitical circumstances surrounding the Palestinian people in the OPT, regardless of the climate change impacts, though the impacts of climate change have made the situation even worse and more complicated. Domestic food production within the OPT has rapidly declined due to the Israeli seizure of Palestinian farmland, the Israeli destruction of fertile agricultural land, and the Israeli closure of local and international markets. At this time, relief efforts have been unable to meet the growing levels of Palestinian poverty. Food production and consumption levels in the Gaza Strip have been compromised by the Israeli control over the fishing industry, over the export and import of food goods, and over the import of vital raw materials. During the past seven years (2001-2007), Israel has uprooted more than 1.5 million Palestinian trees. This Israeli act has certainly created serious implications for climate change, which could further jeopardize Palestinian food production, resulting in catastrophic consequences reflected in a long-term “food insecurity”. For the same period (2001-2007), Israel has destroyed 2,851 dunums of land; 13,147 dunums of vegetables; and 14,076 dunums of Palestinian field crops. This is more that 30 square kilometers (one km2 = 1000 dunums). If one considers the fact that that Palestinians in the OPT have control over less than 20% of their own lands, then one can conclude that about 2.5% of the OPT’s area has been destroyed by the Israelis, which makes a huge portion of the fertile land that belongs to the Palestinians. Over the course of the past seven years (2001-2007), the Israeli Occupying Authorities have destroyed, in addition to the above-mentioned things, 455 water wells; 37,929 dunums of irrigation networks; 1,070,940 meters of main pipelines;1,878 of irrigation pools; 930 of agricultural stores; and 1,862 of animal barns and stables (GCAP, 2008). Despite adequate water resources, the Israeli control over the Palestinian


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water supplies has resulted in disproportionate usage ratios between the Israeli and Palestinian populations (Salem and Isaac, 2007). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the minimum daily water intake of an individual is 100 liters. In some areas, the Israeli citizens currently use an average of 150 liters a day, and in other areas, some Israelis consume up to 300 liters a day. Meanwhile, the Palestinians consume, in average, only 30 to 50 liters a day (Salem and Isaac, 2007). The Palestinian water consumption has been further compromised by the isolation of dozens of water wells behind the Segregation Wall (Salem and Isaac, 2007), so that the Palestinian inhabitants can not use or reach them. The World Health Organization’s records (WHO, 2005) show that Israel uses 83% of the water in the West Bank. Currently the Palestinians in the OPT consume even less than 15% of their own water pumped out of the Mountain Aquifer underlying the Occupied West Bank, and they have had (since 1967 until this time) no access, whatsoever, to any amount of their own water from the Jordan River (Salem and Isaac, 2007). So, after the vast majority of water is expropriated by Israel from the Palestinian Territories, the Palestinians’ share in their own rightful water resources is even less than 15% (Salem and Isaac, 2007). Adding insult to injury, the Israeli water company “Mekerot” sells the Palestinians their own water at about 5 NIS (New Israeli Shekel), which is equivalent to about 1.5 USD per cubic meter. The water use in the Israeli settlements in the OPT, which are deemed illegal by international law and the world community, exacerbates the already miserable situation. On average, the Israeli settlers are allowed 2,400 cubic meters of water per capita per year. This amount of water is 48 times greater than the average allotted amount to a Palestinian civilian per year, which is 50 cubic meter. To add insult to injury, often-times sewage runoffs from hilltop settlements compromise the health and limited water access of the Palestinian villages located beneath.

CONCLUSIONS Climate change has already its severe impacts on the world, in terms of several issues, including damage or loss of biodiversity, food security (or better saying, food insecurity), sea-level rise, environmental migration. These impacts, according to some scientists, may lead in the next few decades to global wars on natural resources, particularly water resources. The Middle East, in general, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in particular, are no exception for such catastrophic situation. Unfortunately, in this troubled region of the world, the political and geopolitical conflicts have badly and severely contributed to, and even accelerated the impacts of climate change.

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NOMENCLATURES ACA

=

Arab Climate Alliance

APN

=

Arab Group for the Protection of Nature

ARIJ

=

Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem

CNAS

=

Center for a New American Security

CO2

=

Carbon Dioxide

CSIS

=

Center for Strategic and International Studies

GCA

=

Global Climate Action

GNP

=

Gross National Product

HBF

=

Heinrich Boell Foundation

ICJ

=

International Court of Justice

IPCC

=

International Panel of Climate Change

MENA =

Middle East – North Africa

MIT

=

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

OPT

=

Occupied Palestinian Territories

PCBS

=

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

SDC

=

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

USGS

=

United States Geological Survey

USD

=

US Dollar

WHO

=

World Health Organization

LITERATURE Abdelrahman, R., 2005. Environmentalists Raise Awareness on Deforestation in Palestinian Areas. The Jordan Times. http://www.chris-on-the-bike.de/ eappi_prints05_e.htm Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ), 2007. Geopolitical Status of Bethlehem Governorate. A Project Funded by the European Union (EU) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Arab Climate Alliance (ACA), 2008. Arab Climate Alliance Position Paper for a Post2012 Climate Agreement. The Paper was discussed in Beirut, Lebanon, in the period of 13-16 October 2008. Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN), 2005. One Million Trees Project. http:/ /www.apnature.org/Project01_project.html


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Campbell, K., et al. (10 Co-Authors), 2007. The Age of Consequences: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Global Climate Change. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Center of a New American Security (CNAS). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2002. The State of Food Insecurity in the World. Rome. Global Climate Action (GCA), 2007. Framework for Post-2012 Agreement on Climate Change: A Proposal for the Global Leadership for Climate Action. http:// www.unfoundation.org/files/pdf/2007/GLCA_Framework2007.pdf Johnson, T., 2008. Deforestation and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions. Council on Foreign Relations. http://www.cfr.org/publication/14919/deforestation_and_greenhousegas_ emissions.html Manneh, I., 2008. Amazon Deforestation on the Rise Again: Earth Day. http:// network.earthday.net/group/call2actjo/forum/topic/show?id=1734264%3ATopic% 3A23216 McMahon, J., 2005. Hague Conference Considers Ways to Implement ICJ Ruling on Israel’s Wall (Special Report). Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. pp. 12-14. http://www.wrmea.com/archives/Jan_Feb_2005/0501012.html National Coalition for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), 2008. Open Letter to the High-Level Conference on World Food Security. http:// www.grassrootsonline.org/term/middle-east/palestine Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), 2006. Palestine in Figures 2005. Ramallah, Palestine. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), 2008. Palestine in Figures 2007. Ramallah, Palestine. Salem, H.S., 2008a. Climate Change and Health-Related Impacts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Paper presented at the Conference on “Impacts of Climate Change on Health”, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Palestinian Ministry of Health, as part of the World Health-Day Activities. Salem, H.S., 2008b. Demographic Challenges in the Presence of Geopolitical Complexities and Uncertainties in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Paper submitted to the journal of “Demographic Research”. Salem, H.S., 2008c. Social and Environmental Impacts of Climate Change on Eastern Mediterranean. Paper submitted to the Institute for Environment and Human Security – United Nations University (UNU-EHS). Part III: Economic, Social, Environmental Security and Human Threats, Challenges, Vul-ne-ra-bilities and Risks in the Near East, North and Sub-Sahara Africa and in Asia. Part A:

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Environmental and Human Security Threats, Challenges, Vul-ne-ra-bilities and Risks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Salem, H.S., 2008d. Towards “Peaceful” Climate Change Impacts in the Middle East. Paper presented at the “Global Climate Change Collaborative Conference”, held at the MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA, and sponsored by the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and the USGS (United States Geological Survey). Salem, H.S. and Isaac, J., 2007. Water Agreements between Israel and Palestine and the Region’s Water Argumentations between Policies, Anxieties and Unsustainable Development. Paper presented at the “Green Wars” Conference: Environment between Conflict and Cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), held in Beirut, Lebanon, and sponsored by the Middle-East Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation (HBF), Germany. Salem, H.S. et al. (30 Co-Authors), 2007. Status of the Environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ). A Project Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Published by Safad Advertising, Ramallah, Palestine. World Health Organization (WHO), 2005. Health Conditions of, and Assistance to, the Arab Population in the Occupied Arab Territories, including Palestine. FiftyEight World Health Assembly. Provisional agenda item 15. A58/INF.DOC./5. Zohary, M. and Feinbrun-Dothan, N., 1984. Flora Palaestina. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem. Four Volumes.