Forest fires in Lebanon will not stop if the climate change problem is not solved

Forest fires in Lebanon will not stop if the climate change problem is not solved
IndyACT: Increased forest fires in Lebanon are not intentional but triggered by climate change

Beirut, July 7, 2009, The League of Independent Activists, IndyACT, announced today that Lebanon's Fires are not intentional but an expected consequence due to the climate change phenomenon and the steady rise of the temperature of the planet. This announcement was based on a study conducted by AFDC in 2007.

Year after year, fires in Lebanon have started to increase. It is something that scientists has predicted, and will become even worse if climate change, which is making Lebanon's summer hotter and dryer than average, is not resolved. Forest fires are increasing around the world and not only in Lebanon. Australia, Greece, California, Spain, Canada, and other countries saw a significant increase in their forest fire rate. In some areas this rate has increased by more than seven times compared to the rate before climate change impacts started to kick in. Scientists say that we may soon reach a stage of dryness and high temperatures, where the equatorial rain forest will start to burn, and thus threatening the stock of oxygen on Earth.

"Unfortunately, experts in Lebanon are not seeing what is happening in the world around them, and do not examine to scientific studies linking forest fires to climate change. Their lack of any scientific explanation, and their inability to control the fires, leads them to say that they are intentional," said Wael Hmaidan, the executive director of IndyACT. "Transforming this problem into a political problem will not protect the forests of Lebanon, or serve the political stability of the country."

The Association for Forests, Development and Conservation (AFDC) did a study, published in 2007, showing the areas that are the most vulnerable to forest fires. According to the association records as well, the fires that occurred in the following years were in the same areas identified by the study. This proves that the fires are not intentional, and that the reason for its increase is factors caused by nature.

Climate change threatens our forests in other ways as well. Trees, such as Cedars will not be able to grow if the temperature of the globe continues to rise; because a Cedar tree needs a specific low temperature to grow. In addition, scientists expect that new diseases and insects will attack our forests because of climate change. For example, in the late nineties a new insect named Cephalsia tanourinensisinvaded Tannourine cedar forests and almost eliminated it entirely.

When the American University of Beirut did a study on this subject, it found that this insect's outbreak was due to the higher temperatures caused by climate change. "Helicopters and all facilities to combat the fires are necessary, but will not be enough to protect our forests if we do not combat climate change," added Hmaidan.

Currently, governments of all nations of the world are meeting, periodically, to agree on a new international agreement on climate change. This agreement is expected to be completed during the largest and most important summit in the history of the United Nations at the end of this year.

The Lebanese government and parliament are showing clear indifference to these talks. Therefore IndyACT decided to nominate the number 350 to the Lebanese parliamentary elections. 350ppm (parts per million) represents the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere that must be reached to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change, for the. During the election days, 350 received enough votes to prove that the climate change problem is one of the Lebanese citizen’s concerns.

IndyACT appeals to the new parliament to include the climate change problem as one of its priority agenda items, and asks its members to seriously and vitally participate in the current climate change talks in order to save the green cover of Lebanon.

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For further information about the relationship between climate change and global forest fires:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/02/bushfires_in_victoria_australi.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3302186/Siberian-forest-fires-due-to-climate-change.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060710084004.htm

For more information please call:
Wael Hmaidan, executive director of IndyACT; Tel- fax : +961-1-447192; Mobile: +961-3-506313
email: whmaidan@indyact.org