Dust storms scour Iraq. Freak floods wreak havoc in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Rising sea levels erode Egypt's coast. Hotter, drier weather worsens water scarcity in the Middle East, already the world's most water-short region.

The Arab world is already suffering impacts consistent with climate change predictions.

Lebanon's ski resorts have survived civil war but now face an insidious threat from climate change expected to cut snow cover by 40 percent by 2040.

The effects of global warming are still a low priority for conflict-prone Lebanon, where environmental neglect rules.

Skiers and the tourist businesses that depend on them hope this year's warm winter and brief season was not a harbinger of the