Gulf States such as the UAE may now depend on expensive desalination technology for their water, but in the past they relied on more sustainable forms of water conservation In the arid landscapes of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, water has always been a huge issue. Whilst desalination which removes salt from water may […]
A recent report by the BBC has revealed that holy water from Mecca known as ‘Zam Zam’ is contaminated with high levels of arsenic It seems that these days nothing is holy. First the holy waters of the River Jordan were found to be sewage infested and now the ‘Zamzam’ holy waters of a sacred […]
Rola asks why the Middle East is consuming so much bottled water. Time to fix the tap? In his recently released book, The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, Charles Fishman explains that while the US has among the safest, most monitored water system in the world, consumers are still choosing […]
Yemen has the dubious distinction of being the first country that is expected to entirely run out of water, as the globe heats up. Its capital city Sana’a could be the first city to be emptied of its nearly half a million inhabitants by the catastrophic water scarcity that threatens billions by the the 2030s, […]
Something afoul? 1.5 million sick chickens illegally buried Following last year’s mass poultry culling in the Tulkarem area of the West Bank, due to fears of Avian Flu virus, it has been recently discovered that more than 1.5 chicken carcasses that were buried in northern Israel following a poultry epidemic are now feared to be […]
Unsurprisingly, since water scarcity is at the forefront of the cause of most of the troubles in the Middle East, MENA nations dominated the 2011 Global Water Awards held in Berlin this week. Almost half of the international winners were from the Middle East, but surprisingly, traditional fossil-fueled water projects dominated the awardees. Advanced cleantech […]
According to a report by the International Water Association, the low price of water is the main factor preventing water conservation in rural Jordan These days it seems that the only way to change people’s attitudes is to hit them where it hurts them most- their bank balance. Unless it makes economic sense, it’s pretty […]
Will the EU exploit the MENA region’s solar resource for mutual or singular gain? The Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) was formed in 2003 to find energy and clean water solutions for the Middle East, North Africa (known collectively as MENA), and the European Union (EU). A series of reports demonstrates that it is feasible […]
A rising number of Emiratis are concerned about water scarcity and what it could mean for future generations In the United Arab Emirate the average citizen consumes 550 litres of water per capita daily, which is three times the global average and quite high for a country located in the water-scarce Middle East. Despite this […]
As its grip on the Nile river slips away, Egypt reframes the tone of its negotiations. Egypt has announced a final effort to re-negotiate the terms of the Cooperative Framework Agreement which apportions water from the Nile River to various basin countries. Since 1929, Egypt has held a near-monopoly on the water, but last year […]
The ‘Green Mosques’ project hopes to help conserve water and electricity at 300 mosques- and save around US$1.5 million every year Water scarcity in the Middle East is nothing new- in fact, the region has been struggling to cope with drought and water shortages for centuries. The only problem is that today, modern urbanisation and […]
This art installation by Matthew Laws & Hall Watts is an accurate portrayal of what our 2030 water consumption will look like. Few places are as water stressed as the Middle East. The Gulf countries have to live with the reality that their very existence depends on desalination, the Levant is scarcely better off, and […]
Japan’s PM Naoto Kan apologizes to his nation, and to the world, concerning radiation leakage at Fukushima reactors Is the Japanese nuclear radiation crises getting better, or getting worse? It depends on who is reporting the ongoing events at the Fukushima nuclear reactors, which were heavily damaged by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami […]
To coincide with World Water Day, we take a look at a wastewater project planned for Palestine’s green city The Arab region is believed to be one of the driest in the world– 70% of the land is dry and rainfall is sparse and the effects of climate change will only exacerbate the situation. As today […]
Every barrel of oil co-produces 10 barrels of waste fluids hot enough to make energy Towards the end of the life of an oil field or a natural gas field, the operating cost of managing the waste water is the main reason why fields are shut down, wells are plugged and abandoned. Oil and gas […]