Mediterranean sharks risk extinction while “serious implications” feared for marine ecosystems and beyond. Accidental catches and sharks for fin soup are to blame Shark populations in the Mediterranean and Black Sea have dropped dramatically over the last two centuries and now risk extinction, with serious implications for the region’s entire marine ecosystem and food chains, […]
A new research paper traces the roots of the wild olive to one location. Olives, staple of Mediterranean cuisine, have dubious origins. Called the “tree of life” for the sustenance it provides and its myriad non-food uses (read our list of 10 weird and wonderful ways to use olive oil), the domesticated olive tree is central […]
Humans have been plucking the fruit off olive trees for over 10,000 years, so it’s no surprise we’ve found creative ways to use olives and their oils. They’re native to the Mediterranean-basin, and probably first domesticated in Crete, but who first hatched the recipe for extracting olives’ oils remains an mystery. We know the stuff is tasty, and […]
Is it creepy or clever to peddle insurance against baby’s first diseases? Sure, new parents get showered with adorable gifts and well-intended advice, but then the downpour of unsolicited marketing arrives: for baby gear, for college saving plans, and now, in Jordan, for baby blood banking. An unusual building is rising in the desert outside Amman, […]
Satellite view of Deepwater Horizen oil spill slick, April 30, 2010: Photo by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Noble Energy, the Houston based energy company, has been working with both Israel and Cyprus to find commercial quantities of natural gas under the eastern Mediterranean seabed . Noble Energy’s Mediterranean undersea energy exploration has […]
Seed money up to $1 million to protect your local birds. Apply today. Sick of reading about Cyprus songbirds killed and pickled for snacks? Weary of wild killing sprees like Egypt’s sanctioned bird hunt ? Or maybe the downed flamingos in Kuwait ruffled your feathers? BirdLife International has created a fund to underwrite environmental preservation projects in one of the […]
Imagine the famous pyramids under water? Alexandria, Egypt holds top risk, followed by Istanbul, Turkey. Think “Mediterranean” and most Westerners conjure up Monte Carlo or Mykonos, Cannes or Nice, often overlooking the southern coastline cities that lie in Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Fourteen Mediterranean port cities are at risk of extreme and […]
Jordan passes new building codes requiring solar water heaters on all new commercial and residential buildings. It’s about time: Regulations come into effect in April 2013 and make solar water heaters obligatory for every new residence (including apartments) sized 150 m2 or greater in Jordan where there is ample sun. Private houses sized a minimum […]
The rich and famous are now buying private submarines. Good or bad for the environment? Brian explores. My search for bamboo yarn took me to an industrial part of Beijing. The air here smelled of hot steel and coal. I walked past some of the warehouses and workshops behind the Made in China label and […]
Going green and doing it for the troops, in Cyprus “Going green” is a new defense tactic modern military: From the use of solar energy to power field re-chargers for communication equipment to finding new ways to supply troops with drinking water by moisture condensation from vehicle AC units. Armies going green is a new tactical offensive in […]
Last year in Cyprus a total of 2.8 million migrating birds were trapped and killed to make a pickled dish called ambelopoulia. It’s a serious crime and offenders face fines of up to €17,000 and three years in jail if caught, but Agriculture Minister Sophocles Aletaris told an EU delegation concerned about environmental issues that […]
Turkey has started exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the town of Iskele in northern Cyprus (red arrow), angering the government of the Greek-controlled southern region. The Turkish Petroleum Corporation began onshore drilling operations on April 26 at a 3,000-meter-deep well, named “Türkyurdu-1” (“Turkish Homeland”), which Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız called a “force for […]
Tanin 1 gas field, in large yellow area north of the Tamar field, is too close for comfort to Lebanese shores. Lebanon is going to the UN to complain. Israel’s got natural gas. A lot of it. Cleaner burning than coal or bitumen, natural gas has a reputation for being more environmentally friendly. Countries like […]
People waiting for the bus on a hot day in Cyprus will soon be able to purchase cold water from a solar powered vending machine.
Designed by Hassan Fathy, the Akil Sami House in Egypt is a fairly recent example of earth architecture that is both beautiful and functional. If the architecture mentor is successful, his or her student will first absorb and then build upon their lessons until they eventually supersede the original teachings with new knowledge. Certainly this […]