MEDI1TV Afrique : Poussières d'hommes - 16/10/2023
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NewsTranscription
00:00 [Music]
00:11 More and more sandstorms are striking the Middle East
00:17 due to climate change and poor water management.
00:21 The region loses about $13 billion a year
00:25 because of sandstorms that damage buildings, power lines and other vital infrastructure.
00:32 They kill crops and disrupt transport.
00:36 Some countries are fighting against this phenomenon.
00:39 Saudi Arabia has committed to planting 10 billion trees.
00:44 Abu Dhabi has launched a system that provides real-time maps,
00:48 almost in real time, of atmospheric dust concentrations over the past few years.
00:53 Iraqis have worked hard to breathe thick clouds of dust
00:59 while at least ten sandstorms have hit the country.
01:04 Hospitals in Iraq reported an increase in admissions
01:08 with thousands of patients suffering from respiratory diseases,
01:12 for some of them very serious,
01:14 while schools, offices and administrations had to stay closed.
01:17 Airplanes have also sometimes been nailed to the ground.
01:20 While governments are fighting against dust,
01:25 environmentalists say that the threat is due to a combination of climate change
01:33 and poor water management,
01:36 which together will turn the soil into fine dust.
01:42 The cost of this is $1 billion.
01:47 It will be necessary to clean the dust,
01:50 evacuate it,
01:51 and deal with all health problems
01:54 and also consider the reduction in production.
01:57 Both companies and industrial production machines
02:00 are gripping, sometimes breaking down,
02:03 and agricultural operations are also affected.
02:06 Dust suffocates plants,
02:09 impoverishes farmers and affamously damages markets.
02:12 Climate experts say that agricultural practices
02:16 such as over-watering,
02:19 excessive use of chemicals,
02:22 and excessive irrigation machines
02:25 contribute to desertification.
02:28 A report published in March by the International Planetary Fund
02:32 shows that since the 1990s,
02:35 the Middle East has warmed up twice as fast as the world average.
02:39 In our countries, 85% of the water is used for agriculture.
02:43 It is not a sin by catastrophism
02:46 to say, to recall the situation,
02:49 how serious it is.
02:50 We are used to saying that water is life.
02:53 But if water resources are lacking,
02:55 the lack of water will be death.
02:58 And against this, against this evidence,
03:00 alas, we must accept it, understand it.
03:02 Alas, we have no solution.
03:04 [Music]