“Look at the olives,” says Adlah Taha Abdallah Ali, 66, in the fields of her home village of Al Khadr, Bethlehem, in the southern West Bank. “See how they are dry … they did not get their share of water. Because of the high temperatures, there is not much oil in them.” Adlah, like her fellow farmers across the region, is battling with the effects of a warming planet. According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , countries of the Middle East are “among the world’s most exposed states to the accelerating impacts of human-caused climate change, including soaring heat waves, declining precipitation, extended droughts, more intense sandstorms and floods”. The West Bank is no exception. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), under a global high emissions scenario, it is projected that in the West Bank by the end of this century, the mean annual temperature will rise on average by 4.4C. Approximately 60 per cent of days on average will be defined as “hot” and total annual precipitation will decrease by roughly 30 per cent. The frequency and intensity of dry episodes and drought events is predicted to increase alongside a decrease in the frequency and intensity of wet events. “Extremely high temperatures have negatively impacted our harvest,” reflects Adlah. “In previous years, temperatures have been high, but conditions were still better than this year. We have seen almost no rain since February.” She explains: “Temperatures have soared in the day, then dropped sharply at night. Because of this, the grapes ripen unevenly, with the outer parts appearing ready while the insides remain under-ripe. Similarly, the thyme has dried out and lost its usual colour and texture.” “We fear that the land will become neglected and Israel will seize it.”Adlah, Palestinian farmer Yet, Adlah faces an […]