Mazrou'i, the head of King Abdul Aziz University's Center for Climate Change Research has said that the year 2010 was the Kingdom's “hottest ever”. Al-Mazrou'i, speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette said that 2010 saw a rise in winter temperatures and an “increase in temperatures unprecedented in the last three decades”. “There were droughts across the country, particularly the north, and a rise in the severity of sandstorms in some areas, as well as record high temperatures in Jeddah, which registered 39.7 degrees centigrade in May and 52 in June,” he said. Al-Mazrou'i appealed for a concerted national strategy and serious in-depth studies to counter the effects of climate change on society and the environment and to identify the “most vulnerable” sections of the population. “The government and the private sector need to adopt policies to adapt to climate change and work to increase defenses against floods through the building of small dams and using water reserves and putting in place a better water distribution system,” he said. He also called for more early-warning systems and observation stations on the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME), meanwhile, released recently a report on the Kingdom's weather status over the past 30 years, citing the major weather influences on the Arabian Peninsula and temperatures and rainfall over the various regions. The highest rainfall, according to the report, occurred in 1992 when Khamis Mushayt saw 146mm, Abha 112mm, and Taif 143mm of rain.
