Saudi Arabia Flood

This past Thursday, November 24, 2022, the coastal city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia was swept by floods by record rainfall. These floods were quite severe and two people unfortunately died, and all residents were recommended to stay indoors. The torrential downpour additionally caused flight delays at the King Abdulaziz International Airport, school closures, and blocked the path to city of Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. These heavy rainstorms and flooding is common and happens often in Jeddah as it is located near the Red Sea. However, over the past several years, flooding and heavy rainfall has been increasing and getting worse. Climate change is a major cause for this changing weather pattern with more severe rainfall and flooding. Warmer oceans and bodies of water such as the Red Sea increase the amount of water that evaporates in the air. When clouds carry this great amount of moisture, it leads to more intense rainfall which is followed by flooding. One of the root causes for a warmer environment is the greenhouse gas effect, which is when gasses, such as carbon dioxide, are trapped in the atmosphere and as a result, heat can’t escape to the outer space . With more fossil fuel being burned by factories, the abundance of released gases further exacerbate the greenhouse gas effect. The world needs to move towards a greener environment by using renewable resources such as solar and wind power. With such measures to reduce greenhouse emissions, society can make progress towards mitigating adverse impact from climate change, such as heavy rainfall and flooding.