The phenomenon of the greening of parts of Saudi Arabia has recently made the public in various countries busy discussing it. Even more shocking, this rare natural phenomenon is associated with a sign of the apocalypse.
Judging from satellite imagery, the area of Saudi Arabia which is known for its arid and barren deserts appears to have turned green after heavy rains some time ago.
The Saudi Press Agency also reported that the views of the Makkah mountains looked lush. This phenomenon was widely shared by local residents on social media, so that this news became more viral and reaped various comments from netizens.
In Islam, there is indeed a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim, mentioning that the Prophet Muhammad at one time said,
"The Day of Resurrection will not take effect until the Arab lands become fertile and prosperous again with pastures and rivers." (Muslim HR).
Ancient Arabian Peninsula
Alfred Kroner, a geologist from the Institute of Geosciences Johannes Gutenberg-University Germany, said that the ancient Arabian Peninsula was indeed fertile land with grasslands and had many rivers as described in the book Mausu'ah al-Ijaz al-Qur'ani by Nadiah Tharayyarah .
He said that if the soil in the Arabian Peninsula was excavated, traces would be found proving that the area was once green land. One of them was found in a region called al-Faw under the Rub' al-Khali desert.
Today a lot of archaeological research is done on this subject. For example, the Green Arabia project, in which scientists seek the green resources of the area.
Kroner explained the scientific evidence why the Arabian Peninsula which was once green can turn into arid land and is likely to become green again. Based on his research on Earth history, this happened because the Arabian Peninsula had experienced an ice age phase.
This phase occurs when sea water in large volumes turns into ice and gathers at the frozen North Pole, then moves slowly towards the south. This movement will affect the state of the surrounding land.
Based on modern research, Earth experienced an ice age about 100 thousand years ago. After that, the Earth was in an interglacial or warming period that lasted 10 to 20 thousand years.
High rainfall
The scientific explanation behind the recent greening of Saudi Arabia is due to heavy rainfall. According to climate scientist and professor of hydrology from Utrecht University Michelle van Vliet, high rainfall is related to changes in weather conditions.
"Saudi Arabia has a desert climate and some places semi-arid. In the area around Mecca, the average rainfall is 112 millimeters per year. Usually it rains relatively little around Mecca, much less than in recent months," he said.
He added, the distribution of rainfall in various regions does not only change in space, but also in time. That is, when there is very heavy rainfall in one area, in other areas there is a very severe drought.
"And the fact is that extreme weather is getting worse and is also related to climate change," added Van Vliet.
Spokesperson for the National Center for Meteorology of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Hussain Al-Qathani said that most of Saudi Arabia had rain from January 8 to 10, 2023.
Meanwhile, The Islamic Information recorded high rainfall for a long duration in Saudi Arabia since December 2022, at the same rate and almost continuously.
Rain not only flushed the city of Mecca but in a number of other cities including Jeddah and Medina. Abundant rainfall coupled with warm weather, makes it easier for vegetation to grow, and this is what causes Saudi Arabia to turn green.