Update: Middle East: Extremely vulnerable to effects of climate change including severe droughts, water shortages, and flooding in coastal areas

Climate change: Why COP17 matters for the Middle East | Al-Masry Al-Youm: Today's News from Egypt: "The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published a report last year entitled Mapping of Climate Change Threats and Human Development Impacts in the Arab Region. It revealed that with hotter, drier and less predictable climates, the amount of water running into the region's streams and rivers is set to fall by 20 to 30 percent by 2050. Expected consequences include food insecurity and more-rapid desertification, the report says. Since the region is home to six of the world's ten most water-scarce countries, the consequences could be far-reaching. Its citizens currently have access to an average of 1000 cubic meters of water a year, a figure seven times below the world average, and the figure is expected to shrink to 460 cubic meters by 2025. According to a report released last week by the World Meteorological Organization (IMO), all indicators point to an expected 20 percent decrease in the water resources of the Ethiopian Plateau, with a corresponding reduction in Nile water flowing to downstream countries. The report estimates an annual reduction of more than 11 billion cubic meters in Egypt and Sudan alone due to the effects of climate change."

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