Climate change is here and it looks like there is no way back. Scientists and policymakers are increasing concerned about extreme weather and climate events. These include extended waves of abnormally hot or cold weather, unseasonal temperatures, changes in precipitation and wind patterns, along with more dramatic occurrences like unprecedented blizzards, cyclones sudden downpours, sudden […]
Increased levels of male breast cancer and early onset puberty are consequence of water pollution in Israel. The 52nd Conference of the Israel Geographical Association conducted the last week of December at Tel Aviv University dealt with developments affecting Israel, the Middle East and the planet as a whole. Geography, a discipline that is multi-varied […]
As a new political order struggles to assert itself in the autocratic states of the Middle East novel challenges – and possibilities – emerge. In looking toward the future, social Greens throughout the region would do well to coordinate an agenda geared toward a sustainable tomorrow.
It started with cotton and oil: the Middle East oppressed now seek freedom and a future. image via AP The autocratic rule now being challenged in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East has its roots in the state system that developed in the region during the twentieth century. This system is based on […]
The relationship between poverty and environmental degradation is a major impediment to sustainability. Specialists from throughout the world gathered for the Rehovot Conference in Israel to discuss sustainable development initiatives. The inherent connection between development and environmental concerns was a major theme of the 2010 Rehovot Conference organized by the Weitz Center for Development Studies […]
Ancient farmers used indigenous knowledge to sustain communities at Avdat in the central Negev as many as seven thousand years ago. That wisom may hold the key to the future according to specialists. I visited Avdat this August on one of the hottest days of the year when temperatures soared well above 40 degrees. Then, atop the […]
Dr. Gotlieb reports from the the Drylands, Deserts and Desertification Conference in Israel – an event drawing hundreds from ten countries. With a species extinct every 20 minutes the problem is more severe than we might think. Dire predictions, and new approaches, described the tenor of presentations made during the opening day of the Drylands, […]
Twenty families own most of the “free” economy in Israel: a recent report points to disturbing trends concerning class and society. Dr. Gotlieb sees fault in the free market policies that injure people and the environment. In his comments on Israel’s invitation join to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last May, Prime Minister […]
Israeli and Turkish delegations joined European and American counterparts in Spain to draw attention to environmental factors causing a killer disease. Strengthening community will be an integral part of a sustainable future. A “community of angels” in my notes referred to the delegates from more than 20 countries in the European Union, Israel, Turkey and […]
Dr. Gotlieb describes a recent trip to his birthplace: Costa Rica Alajuela Province, July 22, 2010: For a Costa Rican-born Israeli geographer, a 36-hour lightning visit for a family event in San José afforded an opportunity to one of the most unique landscapes and ecosystems in the world. Atop the Poas Volcano situated in […]
Israel needs to move away from nationalist oil rhetoric and pursue renewable energy projects instead I was astounded to happen on the full-page advertisement on the back of the business section in the October 10, 2010 issue of Maariv. “Israeli Gas or Arab Gas: What Do You Prefer?” read the central heading. The Arabic […]
Following a site visit conducted as part of a meeting of geographers at Ben-Gurion University last week, Dr. Gotlieb reflects on how appropriate technology, bottom-up planning and goodwill are prerequisites to resolving conflict. For an international group of geographers, a visit to what is known variously as Judea and Samaria, the West Bank – of […]
“Borders, Territory and Conflict in a Globalizing World” was the theme at a conference held in Israel. Experts deliberated on ethnicity, power relations and technology. Dr. Gotlieb emphasizes that such issues must be linked to the environment. The conference engaged specialists from Europe, the US, India, Canada, Russia, Israel and elsewhere on a variety of […]
The Deep, now at The Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem offers a rare glimpse into the biological bounty of the planet’s oceans. Image © Claire Nouvian A visit to The Deep, an exhibition now appearing at Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum is an educational foray into the planet’s least known repository of biological resources. Instituted in commemoration […]
Israel’s offshore oil resource are larger than previously thought, pitting the state against oil tycoons defying demands for a larger public share of oil revenues. In the context of fossil fuel-induced climate change, does the development of petroleum resources have any justification at all? Last week, a consortium including the American energy corporation Noble Energy […]
Dr. Gotlieb comments on the disastrous effects of the oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico and the dangers it portends for Israel’s emerging oil industry. In a New York Times article entitled Our Fix-It Faith and the Oil Spill published this week, Elisabeth Rosenthal writes that “Americans have long had an unswerving belief […]
Dr. Gotlieb comments on the attempts by economically and politically interested parties to obscure the climate change debate. Scientists are “street fighting” the demagoguery in prestigious journals, like Nature. There is a mean spirit blowing — and its not a sirocco out of the Maghreb. The issue began brewing around the time of the ill-fated […]
Built on the profits of oil, should Masdar hold the mantle of energy leadership for the world? Yosef asks. According to the Masdar City website, the undertaking is intended to be Abu Dhabi’s “multi-faceted response to the challenges facing a sustainable future.” The city, intended to house 50,000 residents in a kind of technosphere designed […]
A real estate scandal in Jerusalem reveals Israel’s government’s dangerous stance on the privatization of land development, and use of open spaces, Yosef argues. As the Israeli press reveals one new real estate scandal after another including but not limited to the Holyland complex in Jerusalem, the ease with which “developers” were able to purchase […]
Yosef explores Paul Klugman’s environmental economics essay in the NY Times. Klugman and Gore’s words, Yosef finds, may influence decision-makers to slow the gallop toward environmental ruin in the Middle East. Above image of Klugman We greens of the Middle East have to take our manna from whence it comes – even if its from […]
Yosef Gotlieb, educator and writer, opines on critics of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth. Image via asterdata. In a meticulously reasoned essay appearing on the Opinion page of the March 1, 2010 edition of the International Herald Tribune (New York Times, Feb 28), Al Gore succeeds in disarming and discrediting the champions of climate change skepticism. […]