Michael Haddad, a paralyzed Lebanese athlete who has lost control of 75% of his body, is transforming his disability into a distinctive ability while we, Arabs in general and Lebanese in specific, are paralyzed in front of finding solutions for climate change. Haddad endured all the obstacles accomplishing snowshoeing in Lebanon’s extreme environments and has become the Climate Change Champion for raising awareness on climate change. He climbed the loftiest peak in Lebanon and the Levant, the Black Summit, of an attitude of 3088m in order to raise awareness on Climate Change. “The dilemma of climate change can be solved if each person starts by carrying out simple daily actions.” said Haddad. Today, Lebanon’s snow and cedars are really menaced by climate change.
I still recall the time when I was a kid and I used to go with my parents to play with snow in a nearby region in the mountains of an attitude that is only 800m above sea level. Now, I’m 22 years old and it’s been a long time; years, ever since I saw the snowflakes piled in that district. Sad isn’t it? But why? Let’s think of the answer together. We, as Lebanese, are refusing to manage waste as it should be managed, we all want to have our own luxurious cars leading to traffic and too much smoke, we have public transportation that isn’t safe enough to be encouraged, we replace our trees and cut them down for construction purposes, we encourage the use of greenhouses which lead to greenhouse effect trapping CO2 gas and increasing its level produced on earth. All of the mentioned above is causing a serious change we know today as climate change or global warming.
With the rise of temperature, the mighty Cedar, Lebanon’s national symbol, is endangered at its upper limits. “I couldn’t give you a specific date when we might see the last cedar on our mountains, but eventually that might happen” said Vahankn Kabakian, an Environment Ministry official. According to the head of the agricultural sciences department at Lebanon’s Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Dr. Nabil Nemer, the impacts of climate change on our Cedar aren’t only limited to a low period of snow and a rise in temperature but also to insects. These become more active weakening the cedar tree and making it more susceptible to diseases and insects which might lead to ultimately weaken the tree and then kill it. The Lebanese Government also estimates that snow cover could be cut by 40% by 2040 subjecting Lebanon’s Cedars to less snow. So till when will the Lebanese emblem remains at risk as a result of global warming and climate change? Is anyone doing anything about this issue?
NOT REALLY!
We may read lots of annual reports about the reforestation efforts that are taking place, the use of solar energy in certain areas and the uncountable conferences on climate change… However, what really matters isn’t what others do for us but what we do by ourselves to save the planet. Simple actions can make a change: we can plant a few trees and plants in our backyards or even on our balcony, we can turn off the lights when unneeded, we can reduce the number of cars and depend on carpooling for shuttling students who are living in the same neighborhood to and from the same school or same university, we can start sorting from source, reusing and recycling …. Etc. All these simple actions are of a great impact but all what we have to do is apply them.
I’m sure you’ve read several similar articles but you’re still unable to use a reusable bag whenever you go shopping not even start sorting at home. Our Cedar seeks help and if not from the Lebanese whose head is held high because of it, from whom shall it get some? Climate Change is a serious issue we all are responsible for and we have to always remember, as they say: we do not inherit the planet from our ancestors but we borrow it from our children!