climate change on UAE - Stockholm Environment Institute-US Center

in water availability could disproportionately
affect human livelihoods.
Moreover, the impacts of <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> on
drylands may have significant repercussions
on populations and economies particularly in
areas where people are highly dependent on
drylands biodiversity. In general terms, the
faster the climatic <strong>change</strong>s, the greater will be
the impact on people and ecosystems (UNEP,
1997). Heat and water are limiting factors in the
dryland of the Abu Dhabi Emirate, and <strong>change</strong>s
in temperature or water availability can have
disproportionate effect on its biodiversity.
UNEP also highlighted the fact that higher
temperatures could threaten organisms that
are already near their heat-tolerance limits.
Decreasing precipitation could impair the
growth of annual and perennials species in Abu
Dhabi, on which a large number of human and
animals depend. This link between rainfalls
and plant growth in Abu Dhabi Emirate was
illustrated by the observation that increase in
rainfall, over the spring of years 1982, 1983, and
1987 has been associated with the appearance
of a greater number of perennials. This was
further demonstrated by the wide spread of
Zygophyllum hamiense along the Abu Dhabi
to Al Hair road. Adverse impacts are observed
during severe flooding where patches of eroded
desert are exposed, linked to an increase in
waterborne particles and the disappearance of
some species of the natural vegetation, which
relies on a minimum soil depth (Western, 1988).
Floral and faunal biodiversity in Abu Dhabi is
expected to be affected by impacts on water
resources. A low rainfall future, would lead
to lower levels of surface runoff and less soil
moisture that will impact the germination of
many plant species that are not particularly
adapted to drought, such as the wadi plants.
The scarcity in plant species will affect the
existence of animals that feeds on them and
thus the whole food chain.
Decreasing precipitation could also lead
to less recharged water and less available
groundwater. The increasing temperatures
associated with <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> would also
reduce water availability through increasing
potential evapotranspiration. Sea level rise
associated with <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> is expected
to lead to inundation and intrusion of salt
water into important coastal ecosystems and
aquifers. This will have implications on the
growth of important species and threaten their
existence.
Non-climatic stressors can increase vulnerability
to <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> by reducing resilience
(IPCC, 2007) e.g. human-induced degradation
of ecosystems may increase vulnerability to
<strong>climate</strong> extremes. The MEA demonstrated how
drylands are challenged by the major drivers of
ecosystem services <strong>change</strong> – habitat <strong>change</strong>.
Many non-climatic factors are identified as
threatening the biodiversity in Abu Dhabi.
There is a general agreement that in addition to
natural causes like drought, the main threats are
coastal development and urbanization where
40% of the population is concentrated in the
two main coastal cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi,
accounting for about 60% of the population
(Ministry of Information and Culture, 2006).
Overexploitation of natural resources (fishing,
hunting, over-grazing and water extraction) that
are linked with the vast population increase and
<strong>change</strong>s in lifestyle have also been identified as
a significant threat to biodiversity.
The fast economic growth without consideration
to the natural environment has been identified as
one of the most important factors contributing
to destruction of biodiversity. Toreng et
al., (2008) elaborated on the importance of
biodiversity in UAE and the threats it faces.
They highlighted that, despite being regarded
as a vast deserted and unfertile area with one of
the lowest human populations in the world, the
UAE hosts a unique and remarkably adapted
fauna and flora. (Boer, 1999), on the other
hand, listed domestic pollution, eutrophication,
reclamation, landfill and sedimentation, hunting,
persecution, and unsustainable harvesting, alien
introductions including predators on islands,
disturbance, mismanagement and development
as among the main factors leading to habitat
and species loss.
Overgrazing
Excessive grazing by camels is rated among
the greatest threatened factors to the inland
desert ecology of the UAE (Hellyer et al., 2001).
Their severe impact was attributed mainly
to the rapid increase in their number since
the unification of the Emirates. Although
the ecology of the region included grazing by
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Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability & Adaptation