Meta-events: The tale of the outbreak of the Arab Spring and the connection with climate change
Meta-events: The tale of the outbreak of the Arab Spring and the connection with climate change

Summary/Abstract: The revolution in the Arab world, the wave of attempts by individuals to establish genuine democracy that began between 2010 and 2011 in one of the most sensitive regions of the world, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA), challenged some of the region’s entrenched autocratic political structures. The region is warming twice as fast as the global average due to the effects of climate change. Yields are expected to decline, and food production is expected to be disrupted in many areas, increasing food prices and market volatility. Limited efforts by governments to address this had increased the likelihood of political instability in previous years.This study thus attempts to establish a real and logical connection between the Arab Spring and the effects of climate change. The Arab Spring has shown that political instability is partly triggered by people’s basic needs for materials such as food and water. Climate change could therefore be a trigger for this meta-event. This study addresses this issue using the method of event extraction. This paper argues that climate change and its impact on the lives of people in the region allow for a reasonable claim that this phenomenon is related to the Arab Spring, as it is primarily due to food and water stress.

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