No winter,no snow,no ski this year?

vegetaleb

Taking in consideration the hot and dry winter we had last year and the small ski season of 5 weeks only (compared to the normal +3 months) should we be afraid of another hot winter or even worse...no snow or ski at all??
We are already in september and the temperatures are reaching 38c which is the first time for centuries,so are we doomed? Is Lebanon going to be covered with dunes of sand in a couple of years?

rolf

Lebanon is doomed anyway, lol

eurybaric

18 months left anyway :)

Ayman

Yes, desertification will surely take place in Lebanon and we are reaching it gradually. There are external and internal causes affecting this, the external is basically the global warming that is happening everywhere. But desertification is moving fast in Lebanon because of the lack of planning and implementation to really fight it.

We have the most important resource on the planet which is water, but every single day you can see how we are wasting this resource, especially people who take water as granted and sometimes just throw it away on the street. In addition, the government is not really acting on building up some water reserves and making use of every single drop we have for the future, on the contrary sometimes you can see some fresh water going down right to the sea. In the coming years there will be wars for water.

Another internal factor that is changing our weather is cutting down/burning tree, our forests are decreasing tremendously, these forests play an important role in preserving a good environment, not only on the level of oxygen production but also Co2 absorption, where CO2 is one of the main factors of increasing heat. i.e. more CO2 ==> more heat ==> warmer winters ==> less snow ==> less natural water reserves.

A third factor is sewage and this time not just throwing it into the sea but a new way some people who are building these days find it cheaper and much more faster to dig very deep into the ground and let the sewage go there instead of subscribing to the sewage system. What this does is that sewage water will eventually reach the natural water reserves underground and render it useless for human consumption.

Bottom line: Not only global warming in general is contributing to a warmer winter in Lebanon but also our ignorant society and leaders. Good weather is heavily affected by what water and what forests and plants we have, if we don't secure these resources coming winters will be warmer and warmer and we would be surely heading for complete desertification.

Btw, I don't think we just have to be worried about our ski but also what we will be drinking in the future. In Lebanon ski is just for people who can afford it, while water should be for everyone :)

xterm

We're not doomed, you'll forget all about this when the first rain arrives. This is not the first year that we've witnessed very high temperatures.

Ayman, do you really think the government will care about any of the things you're saying let alone do anything about it? They can't even solve simple problems, I seriously doubt they will solve worldwide ones.

Ayman

Ayman, do you really think the government will care about any of the things you're saying let alone do anything about it? They can't even solve simple problems, I seriously doubt they will solve worldwide ones.

I agree with you, they don't care of course but I can't resist talking about this stuff because the environment is a really important subject to me. I hope one day we can have some wake up, but I hope it wont be when it is too late.

vegetaleb

They should proclaim natural reserves all the forests left in Lebanon and forbid any construction there even if some low level people burn them.
Because governement is more interested in world war 3 instead of Lebanese (I include ALL the political parties here) we should convince private sector like banks to re-forest the poor mountains that losed ton of trees under roads, also some low level municipalities in Metn and other area are freely building roads in the middle of virgin forests just to sell more lands...Nirvana: ''The man who sold the world'' song is so appropriate for many Lebanese

J4D

Go to Dubai, you can ski there all year long (special place).
In Iran they have built a place and they filled it with a special type of grass that closely simulates snow ! Iranian Ski Olympic competitors practice on it.
BTW, i hope we have an extreme winter! Or an eternal winter !

vegetaleb

If the current in the Atlantic Ocean continue to draw back south perhaps we could think about a scenario of nordic storms coming straight down to us in winters, it's already the case in the west part of Europe to North Africa coasts and could extend to East Europe so Lebanon too...
If Yellow Stone caldera explodes we will have a ''nuclear winter'' meaning clouds covering most part of the Northern hemisphere, sunlights will not get through so no warming anymore and a big decrease in temps!
I magine -10c in Beirut :)

Ayman

If the current in the Atlantic Ocean continue to draw back south perhaps we could think about a scenario of nordic storms coming straight down to us in winters, it's already the case in the west part of Europe to North Africa coasts and could extend to East Europe so Lebanon too...
If Yellow Stone caldera explodes we will have a ''nuclear winter'' meaning clouds covering most part of the Northern hemisphere, sunlights will not get through so no warming anymore and a big decrease in temps!
I magine -10c in Beirut :)

Yeah and then wen can do ice skating on the beach :P

Georges

eurybaric wrote18 months left anyway :)

I hope you're not talking about 2012 !
-----

And Xtem, We are doomed. Compare last year's winter, with the 'normal' winter 5 years ago... What about going back another ten years. In my early childhood, i witnessed 5+ Meters of snow several consecutive years.

My home in my hometown was covered by snow for 7 days. We were buried alive. And i remember myself jumping from our 2nd story roof on the snow (6 Meters height - 5 Meters of snow, that's only 1 meter :D)

And as you mentioned, nobody cares. Not ME, not YOU and for sure our Lovely Cute Little Government...

J4D

My grandmother assured me that it used to snow regularly in Beirut when she was 10 years old ! She is now about 75 years old .

xterm

J4D wroteMy grandmother assured me that it used to snow regularly in Beirut when she was 10 years old ! She is now about 75 years old .

الله يطول بعمرى

She's still young though :-) Mine is 93 and she still a beast.

vegetaleb

It snowed in Hazmieh 3 years ago, it was the coldest year in the last 5 years!
But since last year something big changed in the whole Mediteranean region pushing desert winds to Lebanon (and some arab tourists)
In ten years'you will say to your children:
''Yes it used to snow on mountains and I used to ski''
-''stop bullshit daddy!''
''Ya a3mé I am telling you the truth!!''
-''yeah yeah and I am the king of Spain''

Aj_BlaZ

من ذنوب الناس معم تمطر , true story !

Nemesis-301

who cares, the world is gonna end on 21/12/2012...:P

Ayman

No it will end on 10/10/2010(It will be my birthday) Many will die but I will be the chosen one who will lead the remaining human beings in a quest for survival, and there will be no more snow nor Santa nor ski nor Lebanese politicians :P

Come on guys lets starting thinking of a way to preserve our snow(and climate in general) rather than look at the problem and weep, lets start a movement! A real green Lebanese movement powered by geeks.

Aj_BlaZ

AymanFarhat wroteNo it will end on 10/10/2010(It will be my birthday) Many will die but I will be the chosen one who will lead the remaining human beings in a quest for survival, and there will be no more snow nor Santa nor ski nor Lebanese politicians :P

Come on guys lets starting thinking of a way to preserve our snow(and climate in general) rather than look at the problem and weep, lets start a movement! A real green Lebanese movement powered by geeks.

i support you ayman , when you do something tell me :P

eurybaric

Georges Raad wrote
eurybaric wrote18 months left anyway :)
I hope you're not talking about 2012 !
-----

I was! haha

xterm wroteWe're not doomed, you'll forget all about this when the first rain arrives. This is not the first year that we've witnessed very high temperatures.

Ayman, do you really think the government will care about any of the things you're saying let alone do anything about it? They can't even solve simple problems, I seriously doubt they will solve worldwide ones.

Well its not just about if it rains. More like how it does so. In the last years (especially last winter) we saw crazy heavy rains, followed by long periods of sunshine and clear weather. When it rains too fast the water doesn't have time to enter deep into the earth and instead flows downwards on the surface - relatively - and causes floods and stuff. When winter is over (and in periods of clear weather in winter), the earth (dirt) would have much less water and would heat up much quicker, which in turn would create heat waves that melt the snow and cause really hot summers.

It's not all, but i really do think this is a valid factor of hot summers and lack of snow.

Ayman

Aj_BlaZ wrote
AymanFarhat wroteNo it will end on 10/10/2010(It will be my birthday) Many will die but I will be the chosen one who will lead the remaining human beings in a quest for survival, and there will be no more snow nor Santa nor ski nor Lebanese politicians :P

Come on guys lets starting thinking of a way to preserve our snow(and climate in general) rather than look at the problem and weep, lets start a movement! A real green Lebanese movement powered by geeks.
i support you ayman , when you do something tell me :P

Okay if I get to start that movement I will surely notify you and the other lebgeeks as well, I hope one day we can do something like that, but more important is to make it effective unlike what we have now :)