A climate war is worsening in ignorance.. Aden is the sixth most vulnerable city in the world to floods
تاريخ النشر: 26th, September 2023 GMT
At a time when warnings continue of the recurrence of devastating floods in Yemen, especially the city of Aden, similar to the floods in the Libyan city of Derna, a recent study reported that Aden is ranked sixth among the cities most vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge in the world.
The study, prepared by the research unit of the Yemeni Family Welfare Society entitled “The Effects of Climate Change on Yemen and Adaptation Strategies,” revealed that Yemen ranks 171 out of 181 countries in the climate change vulnerability index, according to 2022 data.
The association said in its export of the study that it completed in English last July and published on the website of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs last Saturday, that the aim of the study “is to shed light on climate-related risks and their effects on various sectors such as water, agriculture, coastal areas, livelihoods and food security, and their effects on Vulnerable groups such as women, girls, children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly.” The study also highlights “climate-related conflicts, and mitigation and adaptation solutions that can be implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change on the country.”
Despite being one of the countries contributing the least to greenhouse gas emissions, Yemen is highly vulnerable to climate change-related impacts such as drought, severe floods, pests, sudden disease outbreaks, changes in rainfall patterns, increased frequency/intensity of storms and sea level rise, threatening the already fragile situation of the country.
The study indicated that the exposure of Yemen, especially the city of Aden and the coastal areas, to hurricanes and floods has worsened in recent years as a result of climate change and global warming, pointing out that rainfall in Yemen is accompanied by seasonal, short-term severe storms that often lead to sudden floods with consequent consequences. From landslides, soil erosion, uprooting of plants, and deterioration of agricultural terraces. At times, these floods caused significant economic damage and loss of crops and lives.
According to the study, Yemen is one of the five low-income countries most vulnerable to sea level rise, and it is expected that sea level will rise by 0.3 to 0.54 meters by 2100. It stated that sea level rise will also lead to salt water intrusion, making layers Coastal groundwater is undrinkable.
The study included statistical figures on the effects of climate change in Yemen on resources, agriculture, food security, coastal areas, health, and vulnerable communities. For example, climate change affects the recharge of groundwater aquifers due to changes in rainfall in terms of quantity and distribution, which has made Yemen the seventh most water-scarce country in the world with a decline in groundwater levels ranging from 3 to 8 meters annually in critical basins.
The agricultural sector in Yemen was affected by floods, drought, and pests, which contributed to a decline in crop productivity. Desertification caused by drought has led to an annual loss of between 3 and 5% of arable land. Depletion of water resources may reduce agricultural productivity by 40%. Floods also led to soil erosion and loss of agricultural land, reducing agricultural land from 1.6 million hectares in 2010 to 1.2 million hectares in 2020. The impact of climate change on Yemeni agriculture is expected to worsen in the future, especially with more intense rainfall And longer dryness
Regarding food security, the study indicated that currently, it is estimated that about 19 million Yemenis (about 62% of the population) face food insecurity, and 161,000 people live in famine-like conditions. In the 2022 Global Hunger Index, Yemen ranks 121 out of 121 countries.
Regarding the health sector, many endemic and epidemic diseases in Yemen are affected by climate events. The spread of cholera is affected by heavy rains and drought events, and drought and floods are associated with an increased risk of malnutrition, vector-borne diseases, and water-borne diseases. Extreme heat can lead to increased morbidity and mortality rates in the most vulnerable groups such as older people, especially those over 65 years of age, and especially people with pre-existing health conditions, such as heart disease, respiratory disease and diabetes.
Yemen is considered one of the countries particularly vulnerable to coastal damage due to increased storms and sea level rise, as more than 50% of coastal areas in Yemen are at risk. Because it is among the ten low-income countries most vulnerable to coastal damage, coastal infrastructure, ecosystems and populations are at greater risk.
According to the study, rising sea levels may lead to accelerated coastal erosion, increased saltwater intrusion, more frequent floods, mass displacement and economic disruptions in coastal communities. It may also lead to a reduction in the fisheries sector, which contributes approximately 2.4% of the gross domestic product, and approximately 80,000 fishermen and approximately 3,441 species of fish have been affected by sea level rise. The impact of rising sea water and freshwater pollution may also affect more than a million farmers, especially in Tihama on the Red Sea.
The media office of the Buraiqa District issued an emergency warning, at dawn on Sunday, of a large torrent of rain that was likely to arrive from Lahj Governorate to the Great Valley (the Greatest) in the Al-Haswah-Abu Harba area, where the torrent was heading from Wadi Al-Husseini towards the course of the Greatest Valley in Buraiqa, which is the stream. Which has become crowded with buildings inhabited by tens of thousands of residents.
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A mysterious airstrip built on a Yemeni island comes as Houthi rebels are increasingly squeezed
A new airstrip is being built on a volcanic island in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, satellite images show, likely the latest project by forces allied to those opposed to the country’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
The airstrip on Zuqar Island provides yet another link in a network of offshore bases in a region key to international shipping, where the Houthis already have attacked over 100 ships, sank four vessels and killed at least nine mariners during the Israel-Hamas war.
It could give a military force the ability to conduct aerial surveillance over the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the strategic, narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the two waterways off East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Still, it remains unclear what would trigger the airstrip to be used for a military campaign. The United Arab Emirates, which has built other runways in the region, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces, divided by warring interests and unable to launch a coordinated assault against the rebels even after intense American and Israeli bombing campaigns that targeted them.
In recent months, the anti-Houthi forces have been able to interdict more cargo bound for the Houthis, something that having a presence on Zuqar could aid.
“The possibility of a new Yemeni offensive against the Houthis, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, can’t be ruled out, although I don’t see it as approaching,” said Eleonora Ardemagni, an analyst at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies who long has studied Yemen.
“There’s a more important point in my view regarding the build up in Zuqar: the countering of Houthis’ smuggling activities, with particular regard to weapons,” she said.
A runway on a strategic island
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show the construction of a nearly 2,000-meter (6,560-foot) runway on Zuqar Island, which is some 90 kilometers (55 miles) southeast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida, a key shipping hub.
The images show work began in April to build out a dock on the island, then land clearing along the site of the runway. By late August, what appears to be asphalt was being laid across the runway. Images from October show the work continuing, with runway markings painted on in the middle of the month.
No one has claimed the construction. However, ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP show the Batsa, a Togolese-flagged bulk carrier registered to a Dubai-based maritime firm, spent nearly a week alongside the new dock at Zuqar Island after coming from Berbera in Somaliland, the site of a DP World port. DP World declined to comment.
A Dubai-based maritime company, Saif Shipping and Marine Services, acknowledged receiving an order to deliver the asphalt to the island likely used in the airstrip’s construction on behalf of other UAE-based firms. Other Emirates-based maritime firms have been associated with other airstrip construction projects in Yemen later tied back to the UAE.
The UAE is believed to be behind multiple runway projects in recent years in Yemen. In Mocha on the Red Sea, a project to extend that city’s airport now allows it to land far larger aircraft. Local officials attributed that project to the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There is also now a runway in nearby Dhubab.
Another runway is on Abd al-Kuri Island, in the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. And in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait itself, another runway built by the UAE is on Mayun Island. An anti-Houthi secessionist force in Yemen known as the Southern Transitional Council, which has long been backed by the UAE, controls the island and has acknowledged the UAE’s role in building the airport.
Targeting of Houthi shipments
Zuqar Island is a strategic location in the Red Sea. Eritrea captured the island in 1995 after battling Yemeni forces. An international court in 1998 placed the island formally into Yemen’s custody.
The island again found itself engulfed by war after the Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and began a march south, when the rebels took Zuqar.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE entered the war in 2015 on behalf of the country’s exiled government, stopping the Houthi advance. They also beat back the Houthis from Zuqar, retaking the island, which has become a staging ground for naval forces loyal to Tariq Saleh, a nephew of Yemen’s late strongman leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The younger Saleh, once allied to the Houthis before his uncle switched sides and the rebels killed him, has been backed by the UAE.
Since then, the front lines of the war have been static for years.
What changed was the Houthis’ taking their campaign globally with attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. That continued even after a weekslong campaign of intense airstrikes known as Operation Rough Rider launched by the United States and continued strikes by Israel, which appear to be getting closer to the Houthis’ top leadership despite the rebels’ penchant for secrecy.
“The Houthis, like any insurgent group, win by not losing,” wrote Gregory D. Johnsen, a Yemen expert, in June. “It is how the group has survived and grown from each of its wars.”
While a loose confederation of anti-Houthi groups exists, it remains fragmented and did not launch any attacks during the U.S. airstrikes. But the growing network of air bases around Yemen comes as anti-Houthi forces have made several significant seizures of weapons, likely bound for the rebels — including one large haul that was praised by the U.S. military’s Central Command.
“A likely Emirati airstrip in Zuqar could serve to improve surveillance and monitoring off the Hodeida coast to better support Yemeni forces in tackling smuggling,” Ardemagni said.
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