Janan Behzad, Secretary General of the Kuwait Environment Protection Society, commented on the observations of some photographers that spread through social media in different areas of the State of Kuwait in its north, in the Al-Subiya area and Failaka Island, which showed the extent of the rise in sea level, saying that “the flooding of large areas in the northern part of the State of Kuwait is due to the fact that the northern coasts of Kuwait Bay are characterized by low-sloping and shallow beaches.”.
Behzad emphasized the importance of “integrating the environmental dimension into development plans so that these projects do not exceed the environment’s capacity to absorb them, and increasing the efficiency of resource use and increasing renewable resources to compensate for depleting resources.” She added that “implementing Environmental Protection Law No. 42 of 2014, some of whose provisions were amended by Law No. (99) of 2015, is the best way to reduce violations against the environment and to ensure sustainable development, and it must be integrated with sustainable development strategies, including economic and technological initiatives.” She stated, “Environmental legislation should be established to set standards for coastal activities to avoid land use and urban planning that are incompatible with climate change scenarios and the expected rise in sea levels worldwide, and a strategy should be developed to manage the climate change crisis and its accompanying consequences, which all relevant government institutions should commit to and cooperate in implementing.”.
The Secretary-General of the Environment Association said, “All explanations for the rise in water levels and the flooding of beaches are correct, and none of them can be definitively stated, as they are all common factors (climate changes, melting ice, increased water mass, and the beginning of the lunar month, which is known to increase the strength of the tide phenomena).
Janan Behzad went on to say, “We are not isolated from the world, and reading the events of the past two weeks, July has not been kind to China, America, Italy, and India, as rainfall amounts broke records in the middle of this month, affecting millions of people in various parts of South and East Asia from summer monsoon rains, leading to deadly floods.” She added, “The rainfall caused floods and landslides that affected millions of people in Japan since the beginning of July and increased the number of rain-related deaths. The enormous amounts of rain in the city of Palermo, Italy, in the middle of the month are not hidden, and parts of the United States have also witnessed record levels of flooding. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the increase in tidal flooding along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts since 2000 has been “exceptional,” with the frequency of flooding in some cities increasing fivefold during that time.”.
Behzad confirmed that “the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that the rise in temperatures on Earth since the mid-nineteenth century has led to an increase in the amount of water vapor, which has been reflected in an increase in the amount of rainfall. This is what actually happened, and it foreshadows such strong fluctuations as heavy rains, dust storms, and rising sea levels.”.
She concluded, “It is very important to anticipate any new changes and develop a plan to adapt. At this time, the environmental dimension must be taken into account in economic planning to address expected and unexpected environmental problems, and to formulate policies that deal with long-term environmental problems.”.
