"Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned. That (Allah) may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back from Evil."<Qur'an-Rum 30:41>

• The impact is global

Global warming affect all the world, both developed or developing countries.But the way that people are going to cope with it is different. Indeed, the ability of human systems to adapt to and cope with climate change depends on factors such as wealth, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources and management capabilities. While both developed and developing countries can enhance and/or acquire adaptive capabilities, populations and communities are highly variable in their capacity to respond to the crisis . And developing countries like most of our Muslim countries, particularly the least developed, are generally poorest in this regard. As a result, they have lesser capacity to adapt and are more vulnerable to climate change damages.

• Water scarcity will affect mainly Muslim countries

Today, the great pressure on water resources is rising human populations, particularly growing concentrations in urban areas. This diagram shows the impact of expected population growth on water usage by 2025, based on the UN mid-range population projection. It uses the current rate of water use per person without taking into account possible increases in water use due to economic growth or improvements in water use efficiency.
The regions most vulnerable to domestic water shortages include those where access to water is already limited, the population is growing rapidly, urban centers are spreading, and the economy is burdened by financial problems and a lack of skilled workers.

One-third of the world’s population, approximately 1.7 billion people, presently live in countries that are water- stressed, using more than 20% of their renewable water supply. Population growth and increased water withdrawals are projected to increase this number to around 5 billion by 2025. Projected climate change would further decrease available water in many of these water-stressed countries. And these countries are most of them Muslim countries. We quote Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi, South Africa, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen, Palestine, and several areas of China and India.

The impacts of climate change is expected to have serious consequences for the availability of freshwater in Muslim countries. Floods, in countries such as Bangladesh, and droughts, in countries such as India, can destroy croplands, ruining farmers and hurting the economy. River flows in Africa's Niger basin (90% of the population is Muslim) are decreasing at the same time as fishing pressure is increasing, leading to drastic declines in fishery yields.
Changes in river runoff will affect the yields of rivers and reservoirs the recharging of groundwater supplies. An increase in the rate of evaporation will also affect water supplies and contribute to the salinisation of irrigated agricultural lands. Rising sea levels may result in saline intrusion in coastal aquifers.

Even if the world maintained the pace of the 1990s in water-supply development,this would not be enough to ensure that everyone had access to safe drinking water by the year 2025. Current indications are that if climate change occurs gradually, the impacts by 2025 may be minor for developed countries, while most of the Muslim countries would experience negative ones. Climate change impacts are projected to become increasingly strong during the decades following 2025.

According to scientific experts and representatives of some 100 countries at a working group of the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the effects of climate change are expected to be greatest in the developing world, especially in countries reliant on primary production as a major source of income.

• Some forecasts

Forecasts for Africa: Grain yields are projected to decrease, diminishing food security. Major rivers are highly sensitive to climate variation. Extension of ranges of infectious disease vectors would adversely affect human health. Desertification will be exacerbated, and increases in droughts, floods and other extreme events would add to stresses. Significant extinctions of plant and animal species are projected.

Forecasts for Asia:

Decreases in agricultural productivity and aquaculture, due to thermal and water stress, sea-level rises, floods and droughts, and tropical cyclones would diminish food security. Run-off and water availability may decrease. Human health would be threatened by increased exposure to vector-borne infectious diseases and heat stress. Climate change would increase energy demand, decrease tourism attraction and influence transportation; exacerbate threats to biodiversity, while sea-level rise would put ecological security at risk.

 

Consequences of global warming

International issues