The future of Lebanon’s water sources is bleak with the drought season expected to increase and rainfall to decrease due to climate change, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said Thursday.
“Climate change, as everyone knows, has become a major threat to Lebanon's water resources as well as the communities and sectors which are all struggling to cope with the negative consequences,” Machnouk said during the opening of a ministry-sponsored workshop titled: "Water and climate change: understating the meaning and funding projects.”
“Although Lebanon's emissions of carbon dioxide constitute a small portion of the total global emissions, the country is greatly suffering from consequences of climate change on its economy, society, and stability.”
“Such repercussions will only get worse with the increasing water scarcity. It is expected that rainfall will decrease by 45 percent by the year 2090 and that Lebanon will go through an additional 18 days of drought.”
Lebanon is approaching the annual rainy season, badly needed as the country reels under a severe water crisis, the worst in 10 years.
Machnouk said the ministry had adopted several projects to assist the country to adapt to climate change including the implementation of a pilot project to collect rainwater from the roofs of greenhouses and store it to ensure water availability for irrigation during droughts.
Moreover, the ministry is planning on educating farmers on means to preserve rainwater as well as to launch studies about the effect of climate change on water resources.
He also said that the ministry continued to release studies evaluating the environmental impact of water-related projects.
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