Juxtaposition: Opulent resort hosts climate summit in Dubai

By AYA BATRAWY
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates is hosting a United Nations-backed climate summit next week. But the venue is jarring. The environment officials, scientists and executives from across the Middle East will have to address many forms of water stress their regions are already experiencing, including loss of water in the Nile River, heat-stressed land and disappearing groundwater. But they’ll convene at a Dubai resort that features one of the world’s largest water parks with multiple aquariums and lagoons housing some 65,000 marine animals. It requires enormous amounts of fresh and desalinated water to maintain operations.