A team from the CNN programme “Earth’s Frontiers” arrives in Cyprus today to start work on a climate change documentary.
The programme will investigate the environmental impact of the latest drought on the landscape, document evidence of climate change in the region and take account of the parliamentary measures which have been taken to manage the situation.
For residents, the signs are already ominous: scorching summers, more frequent sandstorms, dying vines and parched fields along with critical water shortages.
Environmental Commissioner Charalambous Theopemptou told the Sunday Mail that the programme will also feature other regions of the Mediterranean such as Spain, Greece, Portugal and other countries in the geographical zone which share a spot on the hot-seat.
“The crew will be looking at the whole of the southern Mediterranean, which will be very harshly hit by climate change. The team will be looking at climate change, drought and the measures the government has taken to combat the drinking water shortage.”
The programme is expected to feature farmers that have had their water allocations slashed during the past five years and members of the public who were forced to endure draconian water cuts.
Bizarre weather patterns which have dogged the island in the past decade including flash floods in Nicosia during winter, tornados wreaking havoc and the unbearable summers are expected to feature prominently.
“What is happening now is odd for Cyprus,” Theopemptou conceded. “One of the most obvious changes we have in climate is that we lost snow up in Troodos and the other is the amount of days we get dust coming in from the Sahara – last year we had three of four of these sand storms.”
Southern Europe is expected to face the harshest bout of global warming with scientists predicting a trend of increased temperatures and lower rainfall in the next few years.
The predictions are supported by statistics which show a 15 per cent decrease in rainfall over the past century, according to Cyprus’ Meteorological Services, putting a staggering 70 per cent of the country at risk of desertification.
The warmest years in the century were observed in the last 20 years.
The average annual temperature in the period 1991-2007 was 17.7C or 0.5C higher than the period 1961-1990.
According to the rate of changes it is expected that by 2030 precipitation will decrease by 10-15 per cent and temperatures will increase by one to 1.5C compared to the normal values of the period 1961-1990.
The new network of desalination plants will meet up to 45 per cent of demand for some places but others are at the whim of the weather, cuts in irrigation, and the tapping of aquifers.
“This is OK for humans, but what about birds, the animals the trees? We should start to think about what is going to happen to them,” Theopemptou added.
“Earth’s Frontiers” is a monthly feature show which compiles the most cutting-edge stories from the front lines of the planet from energy, ecology to conservation and climate change.
