A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Monday, December 13, 2010

Take That, Climate Change Deniers!: Monster Snow and Rainstorms Pummel Mideast

The picture at left is in Sidon, Lebanon. That's a solid wall of water behind those folks. (Arab News)

The Middle East is having a really rough weekend and start to the week. It looks as if the Powers that Be, or somebody, are sending a message to climate change deniers, or somebody. Let's see now:
  • Snowstorms in Damascus (where at least it ends a long drought). The UAE's The National has a picture, at right, of a tree down in the snow in a Damascus street. The port of Tartus has been closed due to high seas.
  • Cairo is having dust/sand storms, and it isn't the spring khamsin season. The Arabist gives us a video from Sunday:

Cairo Dust Storm 2010-12-12 from arabist on Vimeo.

Even my readers who've never been to the Middle East will doubtless recognize: this isn't normal, folks. It's a major natural disaster. Following the Carmel fire, heavy rains during two successive observations of the hajj, and such, it's an interesting augury.

As a publisher very concerned with protecting copyright, let me apologize for purloining these pictures, but I've tried to give credit. And they need to be seen.

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