Last update - 00:00 05/07/2007
Report: Global warming could cause future flooding in Tel Aviv, Haifa
By Haaretz Service
A report published Thursday warned of future flooding, the erosion of beaches and damage to the sewage system due to global warming, caused by a sharp decline in precipitation and a significant rise in temperatures over the summer, Army Radio reported.
The Israel Union for Environmental Defense organization released the report based on work by United Nations scientists in an information campaign it launched on global warming's local implications.
Attorney Hanoch Islar, one of the writers and editors of the report, told Army Radio: "A rise in the sea level will harm the sewage system's efficiency, and in combination with the expected increase in occurrences of torrential rain, this will likely lead to flooding, especially along the densely populated coastal plain."
According to the projected scenarios, if no steps are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there will be a 3.3 degree rise in temperatures in the summer, and there will be a rise in the frequency, intensity and length of heat waves. There will also be a 20-30 percent drop in the annual amount of precipitation and a reduction in days of rainfall, but a rise in incidents of torrential rain.
Islar said the climate changes will severely damage groundwater reservoirs and Lake Kinneret, and will accelerate the process of desertification.
"A rise in the Mediterranean's sea level, if at a rate of 0.5 meters - an estimation which will be incorrect if the ice shelves melt - is likely to damage ports and power stations' cooling pools," said Islar.
Islar added that increased erosion of Israel's beaches is to be expected, as is a rise in the rate of breakdown of sand cliffs at the beaches in Netanya, Hadera, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Rishon Letzion and Ashkelon. This will also endanger buildings close to the beaches.