Climatic Conditions and the availability of water in the Middle East

The Centre is really is an area dominated by land arid and semi-arid, with important places of extreme aridity. In the northern part of the region, a steppe climate dominates, with cold winters and warm summers. A thin contiguous zone to the Mediterranean Sea is classified as a Mediterranean area, with moderately comfortable, wet winters and dry summers, while the central component and the South with the base of the Arabian peninsula is very dry out with very hot summers and moderate temperatures in winter.

Water is a very limited resource. Droughts, desertification and water shortages are permanent elements of life in most countries of the zone. The native plants and animals is adapted to cope with severe climate problems sequences. Through Middle East, summer temperatures are generally around 30? C, but often gliding over 40? c.

However, in the desert of Saudi Arabia, temperatures above 45? (c) are typical. In the summer, winds blow tirelessly towards the warm interior of the Arabian Peninsula, while in winter, the South winds of the Earth. In the northern regions, continental winds out some rain to coastal and mountain ridges behind.Precipitation is low in the section most of the region, but it is highly variable depending on the seasons and inter-annually.

The exception of the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula with the rain in summer time, rainfall occurs in the Middle East during the winter. Summer desiccated hard period of 6-10 months (UNEP, 1997). On average each year varies from precipitation 0 mm to 200 mm, only in the components of the Northwest along the Mediterranean Sea, to the bottom of the Turkey to the Lebanon and also the northern part of Palestine and the Jordan values exceed 500 mm and more.

No there was no discernible trend in annual precipitation in the last century (1901-99) for the region as a whole, nor in most of the region except in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula, exactly here where there was a significant improvementHowever, from a very low base rain.

In typical with other countries in this drinking water scarce region in the aridic in the North, East of Centre belt has chronic difficulties of drinking water resources. The region is facing an enormous imbalance between demand and available water, exactly where water shortage is becoming permanent in nature. Due to its scarcity of drinking water is really a valuable resource that is essential to the socio-economic improvement of the Middle East.

Francesco Zinzaro was involved in marketing online for about 3 years and enjoys writing on a variety of topics. Come visit his latest website which deals with the reverse osmosis filter and supplies water to the owner of his own business.

U.S. Captain of Gaza ship was held in ' shocking conditions ' (AFP)

Athens (AFP)-a U.S. vessel intercepted after it tried to defy a ban and sail to Gaza from Greece were held in "appalling conditions" on Sunday and have not received consular assistance, said a lawyer.

Captain John Klusmer was arrested, when U.S. boat Audacity of hope--the flagship of a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists--attempted to leave the Greek waters Friday after Athens prohibited all Gaza-bound ships from setting sail.

Klusmer was charged with a crime and ordered to appear in court on Tuesday. The US boat to Gaza organisation said he was kept imprisoned in "appalling conditions" and, as far as it was aware, had not yet received consular assistance.

New York lawyer Richard Levy--a passenger on the boat, which has visited Klusmer in prison in a port city near Athens--told furious U.S. activists that "he had no bed or toilet in his cell, and receive no food or water".

"We have offered to pay his bail, '' said passenger Robert Naiman, from the Washington-based foreign policy organization. "But we have had no indication at all that he would be allowed out of prison before Tuesday."

U.S. Embassy in Athens was not available for comment.

Audacity of hope--transporting 3,000 letters in support of the Palestinians--set sail without warning, leaving nine other ships that had hoped to sail together to challenge the Isræls blockade on Gaza.

It was quickly captured by a Coast Guard vessel with the masked, armed men on board. After a two-hour stand-off, the boat returned to a small naval port.

Passengers were free to go but originally chose to remain on board in spite of the Greek authorities.

Sunday morning they were back in Athens, "do what we can to help the captain", including "reached to members of Congress" help get Klusmer released or improve the conditions in which he is held.

Flotilla has been plagued by bureaucratic problems and two cases of "sabotage" over the last week and only four of the first ten both--two French, one Spanish and one Canadian--were in the running Sunday.

Organizers said three of the boats planned to set sail Monday morning, despite the Greek ban is in place "until further notice". Activists said they had "resigned" message content from being intercepted by the coast guard.

A fourth boat, French dignity, was going to try to sail on Sunday, but was thought to be heading to Crete, not Gaza.

The ships will sail illegally, because they have not resolved a number of bureaucratic problems, and some have had central documents confiscated by the Greek authorities.

Israel credited its "diplomatic efforts" for delays and setbacks, which have kept the vessels grounded.

"I welcome all the efforts made to stop the flotilla," said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Lieberman on Sunday.

"Success ... is the fruit of intensive contacts with States of the region and the international community," he said.