Every year on September 15th, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) joins other Arab countries in commemorating the Arab Meteorological Day.
The event centers around the slogan “Weather, Climate, and Food Security,” emphasizing the interconnectedness of these factors.
On this significant day, the Council of the Arab League made a ministerial-level decision to establish the Permanent Arab Committee on Meteorology on September 15, 1970, with the aim of fostering collaboration and aligning efforts in the crucial scientific field of meteorology.
In a statement, JMD Director Raed Al-Khattab highlighted that climate change is altering weather patterns, resulting in extreme and severe conditions like heatwaves, heavy rainfall, droughts, and frost. Consequently, climate change directly affects food security by causing damage to agricultural crops and reducing expected yields.
Climate change, according to Al-Khattab, will drive up the pricing of certain crops owing to decreased output and the emergence of agricultural pests and disease-carrying insects.
Additionally, he indicated that livestock will face challenges, such as decreased production and scarcity of grazing areas, as a result of limited agricultural spaces and the strain on water sources due to lower rainfall. Farmers will be compelled to shift towards crops that require less water and are resilient to temperature fluctuations..
Regarding the impact of climate change on Jordan, Al-Khattab emphasized that its effects have become evident, saying that the country has experienced alterations in its weather systems, notably with a noticeable increase in minimum temperatures and a rise in warm nights across the majority of regions.
Moreover, there has been a decline in annual precipitation in numerous areas, while the occurrence of sudden bursts of rain, known as flash rains, has become more frequent. These intense rainfall events often lead to the formation of torrents in valleys and low-lying areas.
Consequently, these climatic shifts have resulted in adverse consequences, including human and material losses, as well as an exacerbation of desertification within the kingdom.
Source: Jordan News Agency