'Green Riyadh' to Improve Environment in Saudi Capital

FILE PHOTO: Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial
District, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal
Al Nasser/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial District, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File Photo
TT

'Green Riyadh' to Improve Environment in Saudi Capital

FILE PHOTO: Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial
District, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal
Al Nasser/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cars drive past the King Abdullah Financial District, north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File Photo

"Green Riyadh" is one of the most ambitious afforestation projects in the world that would help reduce some of the harms of urbanization, and make the city more capable of coping with the environmental changes.

The first phase of the project consists of planting around 31,000 trees over 144 meters of main routes in Riyadh, including King Salman Road, King Khalid Road, King Fahd Road, Airport Road, Makkah Road, the Northern Ring Road, and the Eastern Ring Road.

The Saudi project, one of the Grand Riyadh Ventures established by King Salman bin Abdulaziz in March, 2019, would contribute to increasing the individual share of greenery, expanding green spaces by spreading and growing more trees across the city, and ensuring the best exploitation of irrigation water.

The planned afforestation will help improve the quality of air, drop the city's temperatures, and encourage inhabitants on adopting a more active lifestyle in line with the goals of the "Vision 2030".

Urban Planner Fouad Al-Asiri believes that cities' afforestation is of great importance, especially in the deserted areas which need more green spaces given their high temperatures, nature of the soil, and growing pollution.

Since the 1970s, most of the urban planning projects have focused on facilitating vehicle transportation and neglected people's need for more spaces that allow them to use bicycles or walk to accomplish their daily tasks, he told Asharq Al-Awsat over a phone interview.

Al-Asiri noted that weather conditions in all seasons should not prevent people from walking, but the modern urban planning has focused on constructing more buildings instead of considering the human need for more spaces.

Urban afforestation aims at enhancing the quality of life and humanizing the cities by allowing people to meet their needs without using a car.

Al-Asiri said the "Green Riyadh" project highlights the importance of planting more trees instead of "grass surfaces," because the latter provides little urban benefits, and consumes large quantities of water.

He added that one of the project's main goals is to surround all kind of buildings with long shade trees to help reduce the temperatures, absorb the sunlight that reflects on the buildings, and reduce the surface's temperature by 10-12 degrees and the air currents around the buildings to 5-7 degrees.



Strongest Winds in Over a Decade Could Increase Fire Risk to Southern California

FILE - Flags fly under heavy winds before sunset as a plume of smoke from the Franklin Fire rises over the ocean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)
FILE - Flags fly under heavy winds before sunset as a plume of smoke from the Franklin Fire rises over the ocean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)
TT

Strongest Winds in Over a Decade Could Increase Fire Risk to Southern California

FILE - Flags fly under heavy winds before sunset as a plume of smoke from the Franklin Fire rises over the ocean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)
FILE - Flags fly under heavy winds before sunset as a plume of smoke from the Franklin Fire rises over the ocean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)

The strongest winds in more than a decade could hit Southern California on Tuesday, potentially causing structural damage and bringing extreme fire risk to areas that haven't seen substantial rain in months.

Beginning Tuesday afternoon, the windstorm will affect Los Angeles and Ventura counties and peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph (129 kph), the National Weather Service said Monday.

Isolated gusts could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills, The Associated Press reported.

The weather service warned of downed trees and knocked over big rigs, trailers, and motorhomes. Powerful offshore gusts will also bring dangerous conditions off the coasts of Orange County and LA, including Catalina Island, and potential delays and turbulence could arise at local airports.
Public safety power shutoffs are being considered for nearly 300,000 customers across the region, according to Southern California Edison’s website.

The upcoming winds will act as an “atmospheric blow-dryer” for vegetation, bringing a long period of fire risk that could extend into the more populated lower hills and valleys, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

“We really haven't seen a season as dry as this one follow a season as wet as the previous one,” Swain said during a Monday livestream. “All of that extra abundant growth of grass and vegetation followed immediately by a wind event of this magnitude while it's still so incredibly dry," elevates the risk.
Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there’s been very little rain so far this season.
Southern California hasn’t seen more than 0.1 inches (0.25 centimeters) of rain since early May. Much of the region has fallen into moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Meanwhile, up north, there have been multiple drenching storms.
Areas where gusts could create extreme fire conditions include the charred footprint of last month’s wind-driven Franklin Fire, which damaged or destroyed 48 structures, mostly homes, in and around Malibu.
The blaze was one of nearly 8,000 wildfires that added up to scorch more than 1,560 square miles (more than 4,040 square kilometers) in the Golden State last year.
The last wind event of this magnitude occurred in November 2011, according to the NWS, during which more than 400,000 customers throughout LA County lost power, the Los Angeles Times reported. At night, normally bustling streets were dim and left without traffic signals.
Planned power shutoffs for the public's safety, if deemed necessary, are projected to happen Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Southern California Edison.
“The grid is built to withstand strong winds,” said Jeff Monford, a spokesperson for the utility. “The issue here is the possibility of debris becoming airborne and hitting wires ... or a tree coming down.”