Canada’s Calgary University chosen as UN water research hub
A prairie university in Canada will be home to a new international water research hub run by the UN
UN
Climate change disasters doubled – eating up world’s food security
Droughts, floods, storms and other disasters triggered by climate change have risen in frequency and severity over the last three decades, increasing the damage caused to the agricultural sectors of many developing countries and putting them at risk of growing food insecurity, the UN’s FAO warned in a new report released today ahead of the […]
Polluted Air Cancerous and Deadly, Like Asbestos says UN
It doesn’t take a genius or a position paper to figure out that air pollution in cities and near industrial zones is toxic to human health. But now that it’s got an officially bad status with the United Nations, up there with asbestos and 100 other killer chemicals, maybe governments and cities will listen.
UN Blames People for Global Warming, Warns of Dire Consequences
Just when the weather was cooling down in the Middle East a little, we get woke up again with the usual alarm and this time from a United Nations panel: humankind is to blame for global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns in a new report just out.
If Gaza Goes Dry, Where Will All the People Go?
The United Nations has warned that the Gaza Strip, the small slice of land bordering Egypt and Israel that has been the scene of so much political tension, could be “uninhabitable” as soon as 2016 if serious action isn’t taken to address a chronic water shortage, The Independent reports. If that happens, where will its […]
Egypt’s Position For COP18 Explained
The last global climate meetings weren’t considered very successful in finding an acceptable successor to the Kyoto-protocol, one with emission targets that would include all the countries and not only developed ones. China recently became the world’s biggest emitter, and it will be hard to limit the temperature variation if the developing world, and more […]
UN: Control Dangerous Chemicals & Save The Lives of Millions
The UN is calling for urgent action to reduce human exposure to chemicals and save the lives of millions of people A couple of months ago, as part of my research for an article, I spoke to a young woman affected by a rather unique and misunderstand condition called ‘Multiple Chemical Sensitivity’. Also known as […]
Egypt’s Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak has Already Killed 10,000 Animals
Thousands of animals have died and more are infected with a deadly strain of foot-and-mouth disease that has plowed through Egypt. Despite government assurances that they were in control of Egypt’s foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), an outbreak has swept through the country, killing more than 10,000 animals to date. The UN Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) […]
Colorful Murals are a Fortified Moroccan Town’s Environmental Meal-Ticket
Every year artists are invited to the Asilah Arts Festival to contribute colorful murals to this Moroccan Town’s white walls – keeping the town clean and well-funded. If you are among those who associate art with the rail-thin, woebegone people who produce it and not much else, then you might be surprised to learn about […]
Bahrain Gives a $4 Million Post-Ramadan Gift to Famine-Struck Somalia
Although Ramadan is now officially over, Bahrain’s Information Affairs Agency (IAA) raised $4 million for famine-struck Somalis in keeping with their “religious, moral, and patriotic duty.” The Horn of Africa famine has already claimed 29,000 children under the age of five and shows no signs of abating. The images of emaciated babies with bones piercing […]
Egyptian Children Track Environment With Disposable Cameras
In an effort to improve awareness of MDGs, a joint UN program arms Egyptian children with cameras. Last week’s UN Development Summit in New York kicked up significant MDG dust. What the Millennium Development Goals – adopted by 188 countries in September 2010 – represent, and whether or not we have any hope of achieving […]
A Flash Flood DIY Survival Guide for the Middle East
Natural disasters are expected to rise in the coming years in the Middle East. The UN supplies a quick DIY list of tips to keeping developing communities risk-free from floods. While it’s not exactly flash flood season in the Middle East, now is the time to prepare: Floods have got bigger, droughts in countries like […]