Policy makers, water experts and peace lovers might be interested in the Strategic Foresight Group’s research on water as a means to resolve conflict in the Middle East. Read about their latest efforts in Jordan. WANA, a North Africa and West Asia forum convened not long ago in Jordan to discuss the environment, a green […]
These soldiers escort conservationists protecting the lapwing bird in active Al Qaeda territory. The Middle East’s conservation warriors are diving to restore coral and boating to protect sharks in the Red Sea. But in the western Iraqi desert, where Al Qaeada operatives are active in a region called the “triangle of death”, Omar Fadhel and […]
All the forecasts about water causing the next major Middle East conflict has started. An Iraqi government employee in the irrigation department, along with his family, are murdered – over water. In the early hours of 18 June, gunmen broke into Faisal Hassan’s west Baghdad home killing him, his wife and their two young children. […]
Not yet into the organic food craze of America, the thin craze is taking over the Middle East as sedentary women pop pills to make them thin. Image via hamed Obesity is on the rise in the Middle East. Many Arabs in the Gulf are now overweight after oil wealth has fueled a sedentary lifestyle […]
Will Iraqi Architect Hadid Use Her Star Power to Demand More Environmental and Social Responsibility? [image via bighugelabs] Much of the news coming from Iraq is fraught with environmental and human tragedy. Water is so scarce the country has to beg from its neighbors for help, and everywhere there is destruction and war. This makes it […]
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 […]
Pipe use and smoking is increasing in the Middle East, but new research shows this habit is bad for your heart. While westerners are already too aware of the dangers of smoking, the Middle East culture has a long way to go in education and smoking laws. In some countries, such as Iraq, more and […]
Listen up Middle East: The UN wants stronger laws for protecting land, water and wildlife during times of conflict. If the cost of human life isn’t enough for our species to understand, the UN has issued a report on enforcing the laws in place to protect the environment during conflict. Precious desert lilies plowed over […]
Plant pathologist Norman Borlaug, 95, died this Saturday, raising questions about the legacy of industrial food in the Third World. In 1970, Borlaug received a Nobel Peace Prize for averting famine through bringing fertilizers, pesticides and new plant strains to countries like India, Mexico and Pakistan. But environmentalists argue that his plant engineering only delayed […]
The evils of plastic water and beverage bottles have already been noted in previous Green Prophet articles, including one dealing with bottled water conflicting with green values ; and another more recent one that noted how so-called bottled water is really mostly tap water that is bottled and then sold at premium prices. But now, there may […]
With the regional drought carrying on for its third year, Iraq is in a water bind as its rivers dry up. Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reports that Baghdad has urged Istanbul and Damascus to release water so that residents of southern Iraq don’t flee of thirst. The problem is that they are suffering from water […]
The global ecologically friendly building trend is taking hold in Turkey as well, according to the English-language daily Hurriyet News and Economic Review. We’ve covered Turkey’s water agreements with Iraq, along with the country’s hard line against coastline development. Green construction in Turkey includes waste disposal systems, solar energy, and rainwater collection, Hurriyet reports: Reghnumj’s […]
(Lebanese fishermen in southern Tyre clean their catch. Photo from AFP.) Southern Lebanese fishermen say their catch has slumped from 88 pounds a day in the 60s and 70s to a measly three or four-pound daily take because of aggressive dynamite fishing, overfishing and pollution. According to a report published by AFP, the Lebanese marine […]
You may not believe it, but the green stuff many people have growing as a decorative plant in their garden may become one of main fibers for manufacturing clothing, linens, curtains, and other fabrics that are presently being made from cotton (a very wasteful pant), and various synthetic fibers. Presently a number of fashion designers […]
Iraqi boys walk along the Euphrates River New water cooperation could be a new beginning for tensions between Turkey and Iraq: Turkey has promised to give neighboring Iraq and Syria a larger share of water from both Tigress and Euphrates rivers; it was announced by Turkish President Abdullah Gul. Gul, on a state visit to […]