The martyrdom of two journalists in an occupation bombing of Gaza raises the death toll to 105

Two Palestinian journalists were martyred in an occupation bombing of Gaza City, bringing the number of martyred journalists since the beginning of the aggression to 105, according to the government media office in the Strip.

The government media office in the Gaza Strip announced on Thursday that two Palestinian journalists were martyred in the Israeli occupation bombing of Gaza City, bringing the number of martyred journalists since the beginning of the Israeli aggression to 105.

The office said in a statement: “The number of journalist martyrs has risen to 105 journalists since the start of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.”

He added: "This rise came after the rise of journalist Muhammad Khair al-Din and journalist Ahmed Maher Khair al-Din, at the hands of Israeli treachery in the Gaza Governorate."

On Sunday, the government office reported in a statement that the number of journalists martyred during the war on the Gaza Strip reached 103 before it rose again.

Since October 7, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which as of Wednesday left 21,110 martyrs and 55,243 wounded, most of them children and women, massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Strip authorities and the United Nations.

Zaher hashem : High heat, floods, and fires records broken by the climate crisis in 2023

In this report, we highlight the most prominent climate events and climate records that were broken in 2023, which concluded with a global climate summit in an attempt to save the planet.

The year 2023 witnessed extreme climate events represented by severe droughts, horrific forest fires, massive floods and hurricanes, a rise in land and ocean surface temperatures to unprecedented historical levels, and increased rates of ice melting at the planet’s poles.

Scientists agree that the increase in the Earth's temperature is a result of the phenomenon of global warming, which in turn results from the increase in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity in the sectors of transportation, industry, and energy production based on fossil fuels, which form an insulating layer for the Earth that leads to raising its average temperature and changing climate patterns throughout the world. the long term.

Global warming contributes to increasing the intensity of heat waves and increasing evaporation on the Earth's surface, which may exacerbate droughts and create conditions suitable for forest fires. Global warming is also linked to heavy rainfall events and the occurrence of intense and destructive hurricanes as a result of the increased ability of the air to retain moisture.

In this report, we highlight the most prominent climate events and climate records that were broken in 2023, which concluded with a global climate summit in an attempt to save the planet.

Climate records

The year 2023 broke climate records and became the hottest year in human history, and with rising levels of greenhouse gases, rising sea surface temperatures, and a record decrease in sea ice in Antarctica, the world witnessed extreme weather phenomena, represented by severe drought, lack of water supplies, and hurricanes. Massive floods left behind death and destruction.

Global carbon dioxide emissions are expected to reach their highest levels ever this year, according to a recent report by the Center for Climate Research in Norway (CICERO).

Data from the World Meteorological Organization show that the global average near-surface temperature in 2023 (until October) is about 1.40 degrees Celsius higher than the reference temperature in the pre-industrial era, while sea surface temperatures have risen to record levels. In the months of April through September, the data also shows that sea levels in 2023 will rise to a record level reflecting continued ocean warming, as well as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.

The organization also indicates that the extent of sea ice in Antarctica has declined to its lowest level ever since 1979 to the present, and the extent of sea ice reached a record low in June and the following months.

Extreme heat affected many parts of the world, most notably southern Europe and North Africa, especially in the second half of July, as it reached record levels in Tunis (49 degrees Celsius), Agadir in Morocco (50.4 degrees Celsius) and Algiers (49.2 degrees Celsius). Celsius).

El Nino phenomenon

The El Nino phenomenon in 2023 constituted one of the largest and most prominent climate events in the year, as the tropical Pacific Ocean became warmer by 3 degrees Celsius.

In May, the World Meteorological Organization announced the end of the three-year cold La Nina phenomenon, which served as a temporary brake on the increase in global temperatures, allowing the development of its opposite El Nino phenomenon, which may lead to a new rise in global warming, and increase the chance of Reaching new temperature records will be more evident in 2024.

The El Nino phenomenon is associated with flooding on the western coasts of Peru and Ecuador, and a strong El Nino phenomenon can add up to 0.2 degrees Celsius to the Earth's average temperature.

Water crises and drought

This spring, Europe faced a severe water crisis exacerbated by a multi-year drought, the result of low winter rainfall and snow.

Persistent scarcity and heat waves have negatively affected crops, and some European countries, such as Spain , were forced to impose restrictions on the use of water for agriculture and industries, as well as for irrigating public gardens and refilling swimming pools, amid the driest April in the country's history.

France experienced its driest winter in six decades, with more than 30 consecutive days without significant amounts of rain between January and February this year. In addition, snowfall was very low, which meant Reduced snowmelt to recharge rivers in spring.

In Italy , snowfall was down 64% by mid-April nationally compared to the previous 12 years, the Po River had fallen to its lowest level as it did last summer, and Lake Garda to the north had fallen to less than half its average level.

Floods and hurricanes

The year 2023 witnessed devastating floods and hurricanes in many parts of the world, and the oceans are the source of energy for tropical cyclones. As the temperature of the ocean surface continues to rise, evaporation rates increase and the warm air carries water vapor to the high layers of the atmosphere, as it forms dense cumulus clouds that feed the hurricanes and carry them in large quantities. From heavy rainfall.

Tropical Cyclone Freddy , which formed from February to March, is classified as one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the world, and left great destruction, dozens of deaths, and hundreds of homeless people in Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi.

Libya:

Mediterranean Hurricane Daniel swept across areas in eastern Libya on September 10, causing major floods that were concentrated in Derna, which was severely damaged as a result of the collapse of its water dams. The floods left widespread destruction, claiming the lives of thousands of city residents, and causing severe damage to the city’s infrastructure.

China:

At the end of July, China witnessed floods that swept major cities, and rainfall in the capital, Beijing, exceeding 140 millimeters, coinciding with the passage of the remnants of Hurricane Duxuri , which is considered one of the strongest storms to hit China in years, and heavy rains led to the death of dozens in various parts of the country. Hundreds of thousands were displaced and evacuated from their homes.

Heavy rains associated with Hurricane Saola , exceeding 158 mm, inundated the city of Hong Kong, and flash floods completely paralyzed the city in early September, disrupting land and air transport and disrupting the second largest stock market in Asia.

Istanbul:

In early September, areas in the Turkish city of Istanbul witnessed sudden floods as a result of heavy rains that caused damage to property and lives. Areas in the European part of the city recorded precipitation amounting to 125 kilograms per square meter, which led to the death of two people and damage to hundreds of homes and workplaces.

Americas:

The coasts of North America and South America witnessed tropical cyclones that developed in speed suddenly and led to great destruction and loss of life on the coasts of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Caribbean Sea.

In Haiti, heavy rains in early June caused rivers to overflow and mudslides occurred in most provinces, killing dozens and displacing thousands of families. Hurricane Idalia destroyed large areas of the US state of Florida at the end of August as a Category 3 storm.

Hurricane Lee also struck the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the United States in September, transforming within 24 hours from a Category 1 tropical storm into a devastating Category 5 hurricane with strong winds at speeds of 249 kilometers per hour.

In Mexico, Hurricane Otis transformed at the end of October from a tropical storm into a very dangerous Category 5 hurricane within just 12 hours, with wind speeds reaching about 270 kilometers per hour, and causing severe damage to more than 270,000 homes and tourist resorts, in addition to dozens of others. The dead and missing.

Forest fires

Forest fires in Canada set records as the largest in the country's history and among the largest fires in the world during the past ten years, as the area of ​​forests affected in October was estimated at about 18.5 million hectares.

The most violent forest fires that the United States of America has witnessed in the last hundred years also broke out in the forest area on the island of Maui in the state of Hawaii , in early August, during which more than a hundred people were killed.

In Greece, forest fires renewed in August, killing 20 people and losing thousands of hectares of vegetation. Weeks after the islands of Rhodes and Corfu were exposed to massive forest fires in July, the authorities were forced to evacuate more than 20,000 people, most of them tourists.

Forest fires also renewed in Algeria in September, coinciding with an unusual heat wave that struck the north of the country, as temperatures in some areas exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, after previous fires that the country witnessed in July, which led to the death of 34 people and the injury of dozens.