Climate change implications in the West Bank- Palestine

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Basema M Bashir

Institute of Water Studies, Palestine

: Expert Opin Environ Biol

Abstract

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Palestine is one of the Mediterranean Basin countries that are vulnerable to climate changes. It has become very clear that the region in general is being affected by high variation in rainfall distribution over time and space, in addition to very clear and evident changes in the temperature during summer and winter, day and night; this is all in addition to drought events that are substantially random in the area. Palestine is considered to be a semi-arid area with very limited water resources, and it is very clear that the impact of political restrictions enforced by the Israeli occupation, together with the climate changes circumstances are undoubtedly increasing the vulnerability of Palestinians and is clearly affecting their resilience to cope with the already very limited and insufficient water available for them. Although it is difficult to make any general conclusions and predictions with the limited hydro-meteorological data availability, this paper will try to shed lights on apparent variables to changes in climate including precipitation patterns in the West Bank, and it will highlight its direct effect on the area; this is assumed to help in attracting more attention and advancing discussions on climatic change and its potential impacts on the area, which and until to date is not addressed properly in the water resources management and planning. It will make use of other case studies conducted recently and will review literature on work done on this area.

Biography

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Basema M Bashir is a Palestinian Senior Water and Environment Expert with a long experience in project management, in particular with a focus on IWRM. She has been involved in the water and environment sector for about twenty years in addition to previous experience as a civil engineer. She holds a BSc in Civil Engineering, an MSc in Water Engineering, and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), in addition to a Post-graduate course in Water Resources Management. She has comprehensive and updated knowledge of the water and environment sector in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and very good knowledge of the sector regionally and on the international level.

Email: basema.bashir@gmail.com