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, it showed us that extreme climate events can affect our daily lives (and our air conditioners). Unfortunately, events like heat waves, fires, droughts, and floods are expected to become more frequent and severe in the coming years due to the worsening 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 may 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 and national levels," says Negev. "It seems that this is still not seen as a significant problem that needs to be prepared for."
Vulnerable residents in sensitive areas
In addition to Negev, the new research team included Prof. Shlomit Paz, Dr. Moti Zohar, Dr. Hani Neuman and Tamar Zohar from the University of Haifa and Prof. Hagai Levin from the Hebrew University-Hadassah. "We chose to focus on the urban level, because the city has many measures it can take 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 mapping, the researchers also conducted 30 in-depth interviews with senior officials from the city's health and welfare agencies (including hospital directors), with the aim of examining their level of awareness of the risks posed by the climate crisis and the degree of preparedness for its damage in municipal agencies.
According to the study, Haifa is well prepared for war and fires – risks that have already materialized in the past. However, when it comes to climate extremes that are less well-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 directors 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 could happen in Haifa these days, and therefore they are not preparing for it. For example, there was a senior official in the welfare department who told us: ‘I don’t know if this will happen in my generation.’”
"This is not surprising, because even local governments in the rest of the country and the central government in Israel do not have much understanding that the risk is immediate, and that we need to prepare for it here and now," says Negev. "One of the hospital directors in Haifa said in an interview we conducted with him that this is the first time anyone has raised the issue of preparing for a climate crisis, and that the Ministry of Health and the government are not guiding them to prepare for the climate and are not budgeting for the issue."
The researchers also conducted a survey of 550 city residents, in which respondents were asked to rank various threats according to the extent to which they believe they will affect them personally. Apart from fires, which ranked fourth in the survey, the four other climate threats that participants were asked about (extreme heat wave, floods, climate crisis and drought) were ranked last, behind factors such as the economic situation, political corruption, earthquakes, violence and crime in Israel and social divisions 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 Urban Action Plan for Climate Crisis PreparationHowever, most local authorities are not or almost not involved in the issue. "In many countries around the world, local governments are the ones leading the preparations for the climate crisis, but local governments in Israel are 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, there are many and varied ways. "A very significant means of reducing heat in the city is planting trees, and this must be done today, so that in 10 years there will be significant shade," says Negev. "It is advisable to design buildings taking into account the sun and wind, build artificial shading in public spaces, adapt educational, cultural and recreational institutions to warmer temperatures and extreme events, and build the transportation system so that it is suitable for 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 HaM in the Kal-Bo newspaper, 13/3/87
