The extraordinary heat wave that hit Israel last month and turned September 2020 upside down The most bread since the measurements began In the mountains and inland, he illustrated to us that extreme climatic events can affect our daily life (and our air conditioner). Unfortunately, events such as heat waves, fires, droughts and floods are expected to become more frequent and more difficult in the coming years due to the worsening of the climate crisis.
If that is not enough, then in a new study, which will be presented At the 2020 Annual Science and Environment Conference which took place online on October 13-12, and which focused on Haifa, it was found that the city is not prepared to deal with extreme climate events, and that the awareness of the issue among decision makers and residents in the city is very low.
"In Israel, an increase in fires, floods and floods caused by extreme rain events is expected - which may claim human lives, as we have seen Last year", says Dr. Mia Negev from the School of Public Health at Haifa University, who took part in the research team. "An increase in temperatures is expected, which will include longer, more powerful and more frequent heat waves. Such heat waves are very dangerous to public health and can cause heatstroke."
According to Negev, there is a connection between heat waves and an increase in morbidity and mortality. "In a previous study we conducted We found a 10 percent increase in the risk of stroke during heat waves, and they were also linked to heart disease," she says.
"However, there is very little preparation for the climate crisis in Israel, both at the municipal level and at the national level," says Negev. "It seems that this is not yet seen as a significant problem that needs to be prepared for."
Vulnerable residents in sensitive areas
Besides Negev, the new research team included Prof. Shlomit Paz, Dr. Moti Zohar, Dr. Hani Neuman and Tamar Zohar from Haifa University and Prof. Hagai Levin from Hadassah Hebrew University. "We chose to focus on the municipal level, because the city has many measures it can take in order to prepare for the climate crisis," says Negev.
The city of Haifa was chosen to serve as the object of the study because of the variety of climatic and social sensitivities in it. Haifa includes low and high areas, sea and mountain, and is at risk of various extreme events: heat waves, fires and floods. Various groups of sensitive populations live in the city, including the elderly and residents from weak socio-economic strata (who may find it difficult to finance air conditioning during heat waves, for example).
The researchers mapped the areas more sensitive to various extreme climate events in Haifa, and the concentrations of populations at risk throughout the city. According to the findings of the study, the Carmel area, which is adjacent to a forested area, is more vulnerable to fires than the rest of the city. In the lower areas of Haifa - the lower city and Kiryat Haim, for example - there is a higher risk of extreme heat waves as well as flooding during rains. According to the study, precisely in these low-lying areas live more residents who belong to sensitive populations.
"It won't happen in my generation"
In addition to the mapping, the researchers also conducted 30 in-depth interviews with senior officials from the city's health and welfare bodies (including hospital managers), in order to examine their level of awareness of the risks posed by the climate crisis and the degree of preparation for its damage in the municipal bodies.
According to the research, Haifa is well prepared for war and fires - risks that have already materialized in the past. However, when it comes to extreme climatic events that are less known in the city, the situation is not encouraging. "We saw very clearly that there is no awareness of the climate crisis as a threat that needs to be prepared for now, neither in the health system nor in the welfare system," says Negev. "Hospital managers and senior officials in the municipality told us that they have heard about heat waves in Europe, but they don't think that this is something that can happen nowadays in Haifa, so they are not preparing for it. For example, there was a senior official in the welfare division who told us: 'I don't know if this will happen in my generation.'"
"This is not surprising, because even the local government in the rest of the country and the central government in Israel do not have such an understanding that the risk is immediate, and that it is necessary to prepare for it here and now," says Negev. "One of the hospital managers in Haifa said in an interview we conducted with him that this is the first time anyone has raised the issue of preparing for the climate crisis, and that the Ministry of Health and the government do not guide them to prepare for the climate and do not budget for the issue."
The researchers also conducted a survey among 550 residents of the city, in which the respondents were asked to rate various threats according to the degree to which they believe they will affect them personally. Apart from fires, which were ranked fourth in the survey, the four other climatic threats that the participants were asked about (extreme heat wave, floods/floods, climate crisis and drought) were ranked last, after factors such as the economic situation, political corruption, earthquakes, violence and crime in Israel, and social disputes and disparities in the country.
The local government should lead the preparation
Several cities in Israel have begun to act in order to prepare for extreme climate events, most notably Tel Aviv, which recently introduced A municipal action plan to prepare for the climate crisis. However, in most local authorities there is no or almost no activity on the subject. "In many countries in the world, the local government is the one that leads the preparation for the climate crisis, but the local government in Israel is not prepared for extreme climate events," says Negev.
The steps a local authority can take In order to prepare for the climate crisis and reduce its effects, they are many and varied. "A very significant means of reducing the heat in the city is planting trees, and this should be done today, so that in 10 years there will be significant shade," says Negev. "It is appropriate to design buildings taking into account the sun and wind, to build artificial shading in public spaces, to adapt educational, cultural and recreational institutions to warmer temperatures and extreme events, and to build the transportation system so that it fits the climate that will prevail in Israel in 2030 and 2040. These are steps that need to be taken - and quickly, the time to prepare is now", she concludes.
The Municipality of Haifa chose not to provide a response to the information contained in the report and in this article.
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More of the topic in Hayadan:
- "There are 3 components to the disaster: technological negligence, the lack of a regulator and governmental corruption and they all took place in the capitals" - Prof. Ehud Kinan, who was the main initiator of the closure of the ammonia tank in Haifa
- The fires in Haifa and the Jerusalem area were observed from space; The fires are consistent with global warming models
- "The Ministry of Health confirms: Haifa leads in the number of lung cancer patients". The HM in the Kal-Bo newspaper, 13/3/87
