'Tel Aviv to flood in next 10 years due to rapid climate change'
Even though it seems like a real climate disaster will not happen for years to come, specialists claim that a catastrophe is almost imminent and coastal cities like Tel Aviv will be the first to suffer; unless actual and strict measures are introduced by the global community
Although the world's sea levels have been rising for years due to the melting of polar ice caps, the impression so far has been that a significant climate disaster is many decades away. Now, climate specialists say there is a clear and present danger, and Israel's coastline might find itself underwater as soon as the coming decade unless urgent action is taken.
According to Professor Uri Marinov, the founder and director of the Environmental Protection Service (EPS) and the first Director General of the Ministry of Environmental Defense, the danger is not only real, but also far greater than initially anticipated.
"According to a new study published recently by an American company specializing on the subject of climate change, we've been measuring the sea levels incorrectly," said Prof. Marinov. "So, the danger we're faced with is actually three times higher from what we initially anticipated.
"Water levels will rise rapidly, flood entire cities, and hundreds of millions of people will either live below the sea level or will live under a constant threat of flooding. All of is expected to happen in the next 10 to 20 years."
Prof. Marinov also paints a grim picture when it comes to Israel specifically, claiming that "for every centimeter of rising water, the shoreline will shrink by another 60 cm."
He adds that according to a Ministry of Environmental Protection report, Israeli shoreline shrinks by at least 5 meters every 10 years. "All you need to do is imagine what will happen when the waters rise and find their way into the city of Tel Aviv. The waters will flood and contaminate the well water used by the country's coastal region."
The professor says the what might now sound like an apocalyptic scenario is not a question of if but rather than when. "The question is whether it will happen in the next five or ten years, and what will be the scale of the flood. If we don’t take the necessary measures right away, the coastal region will indeed be flooded."
Marinov says Israel can't solve this problem by itself and needs to be a part of an international effort, which means reducing the use of fossil fuels and moving on onto more sustainable energy sources.
"We can use the sun to create solar-hydrogen, which will provide us with fuel, and the fuel will provide us with electricity when there's no solar radiation available to us." He said although the "climate revolution" should have started "10 or 15 years ago," there is still time to prevent a climate catastrophe in the future, emphasizing the actions should be taken quickly or it might truly be too late.
On November 4th, The Trump administration said it filed paperwork to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact to fight climate change.
Prof. Marinov claims Trump's withdrawal from the deal is nothing short of a "crime against humanity."
"The Americans are the ones emitting the largest amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, and thus they should be the first to act to combat climate change."
