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Why So Many Fallujah Babies Are Born Deformed

Tafline Laylin
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5
Why So Many Fallujah Babies Are Born Deformed

environmental disaster, birth defects, Iraq fallujaThese children in Iraq appear to be healthy, but 15% of all new babies born in Fallujah have birth defects.

Green Prophet writer Arwa has been hot on the trail of the war’s devastating environmental impact on Iraq. She created a profile of environmental problems caused in part by the war and  talked to conservationists Nature Iraq about the requisite steps to restore Iraq’s marshlands.

But the true extent of one of the war’s most horrifying legacies has been kept from the international public’s view. In an excerpt taken from The American Conservative, UTNE describes how the American army has left behind untold (but high) quantities of depleted uranium (DU) that is the most probable cause of babies being born with three heads and other devastating defects.

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The beehive homes of Syria

Arwa Aburawa
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2
The beehive homes of Syria

How do the Syrian beehive-shaped houses made out of mud manage to stay so cool in extreme desert conditions?

As war and conflict tear through Syria, we take a look at the ancient earthen beehive-shaped houses on the edge of the country which have been wowing visitors for centuries. We have covered these amazing traditional Syrian houses which manage to stay cool in the desert without air conditioning before, but I couldn’t resist showcasing these amazing feats of architecture again. Their iconic shape and eco-friendly architecture is definitely something which needs to be celebrated time and time again.

According to Earth Architecture, half of the world’s population live of work in buildings constructed of earth. So rather than seeing earth architecture as something of the past we must accept that in some way and in some places, earth architecture still rules supreme. Mud, dirt and straw are the oldest building material on the planet as they are widely available, cheap and relatively easy to manipulate and build with.

Other earthen buildings in the Middle East include adobe (mud brick) houses in the Marshes of Iraq, the tallest city of Shibam in Yemen, the city of Bam in Iran as well as the eco-friendly architecture of the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.

The beehive houses is an ancient dwelling with evidence of its existence going back to 3,700 B.C. There have been recorded examples of their construction in Cyprus and Turkey although it is only in Syria that they have persisted to this day. The Syrian beehive-houses are located on the edge of the Syrian desert with whole beehive villages in Aleppo and are used for storage as well as housing.

It is believed that the conical homes continue to be built in areas of Syria as there are no alternative building materials available which were better suited to the environment. Beehive homes are built using mud bricks which are stacked in a conical shape which allows hot air to travel upwards allowing the ground floor where the residents live to stay cool.

To keep the air cool, these houses rarely have windows which also protects the residents from the desert winds. The conical dome of the beehive houses also allows the rare torrential rains to flow down without exposing the mud to too much water.

All the amazing images are via james.gordon6108/flickr

(In 2023 his stream is offline)

For more on Mud/Earth Architecture see:

Earth Architecture All The Way To Timbuktu

Mud Structures of the Muslim World: Spectacular and Sustainable

Bustan’s Mud Huts With Plasma Screens

 

Former Agriculture Minister Brought Carcinogenic Pesticides To Egypt

Tafline Laylin
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1
Former Agriculture Minister Brought Carcinogenic Pesticides To Egypt

pesticides, Egypt, agricultureThis really bad picture of former Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Youssef Wali should not blur his egregious crimes.

Hosni Mubarak is not the only official to lose tremendous face following the dramatic Egyptian revolution earlier this year. The former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Youssef Wali also became the subject of prosecutors’ interest when a few shady business transactions came into focus. After he resigned in February, 2011, prosecutors froze his assets in April for yet more dubious transactions. Now officials accuse Wali of permitting the illegal entry of previously banned carcinogenic pesticides into the country over a six year period.

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Paris Gives Morocco’s Solar Plan A Frank Chance

Tafline Laylin
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0
Paris Gives Morocco’s Solar Plan A Frank Chance

solar energy, renewable energy, MoroccoEurope and MENA need each other. France gives Morocco some of the funds it needs to get its solar plan off the ground.

Morocco has scorching solar ambitions, but fiscal limitations. King Mohamed VI made developing the country’s renewable energy resources a priority in 2008, when oil prices surged, and established a goal for solar energy to generate 42% of the country’s electricity needs by 2020. Achieving these goals would be impossible without cooperating with Europe – particularly France and Spain. Paris takes another step towards demonstrating its commitment to this inevitable marriage.

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Yemen Running Dry As Water Shortage Reaches Extreme Levels in Africa and the Middle East

Rola Tassabehji
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0

For years now, Green Prophet has been reporting on the growing water shortage situation in Africa and the Middle East and its economic and geopolitical implications. However, the scale of the problem and the need for urgent international coordination to secure this basic commodity is becoming more urgent today as stories and pictures from Yemen warn of an inevitable social collapse in the middle of political uncertainty.

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And the Cleantech Award Goes To… IDE Technologies

Karen Chernick
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And the Cleantech Award Goes To… IDE Technologies

"water desalination israel"IDE Technologies wins ‘Best Company of 2011’ – but is it truly the best green company?

Selected from among 15 Israeli clean technology companies, Israeli-global company IDE Technologies was recently awarded the title of ‘Best Company of 2011’ by the 2011 Cleantech Exhibition.  The company was granted the award for its contribution to the field of desalination and water technology – the very reason why an environmental organization such as Friends of the Earth Middle East may deem it unworthy of receiving such recognition.

Desalination in Israel is tricky business: on the one hand, it creates an alternative to the nation’s heavy reliance on winter rainfall.  On the other hand, it is energy intensive, polluting, often privatized, and diminishes the importance of water conservation.

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Desertification In Egypt Is Putting Food Supplies At Risk

Arwa Aburawa
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Desertification In Egypt Is Putting Food Supplies At Risk

Egypt is losing an estimated 11,736 hectres of agricultural land every year according to UN sources

From food contaminated with human waste in Cairo due to water shortages to concerns that the country could be on the brink of famine, Egypt is facing its fair share of food problems. Now, there are reports that desertification is eating into agricultural land and putting local food production at risk. Although only 3% of Egypt’s land is cultivated, urban sprawl and construction is cutting into this precious resource which serves 85 million people.

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Iberdrola Fires Up ISCC in Egypt, at Last

Susan Kraemer
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2
Iberdrola Fires Up ISCC in Egypt, at Last

Politics has long slowed the adoption of more solar in Egypt. This week, a milestone.

This week, Spain’s Iberdrola pulled the switch on Egypt’s first combination solar and gas power plant, a 150 MW Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) power plant in Kuraymat, Egypt, one of just four that was selected worldwide for funding by the World Bank – way back in 1999.

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Millions Go Hungry In Syria, Libya and Yemen

Arwa Aburawa
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0
Millions Go Hungry In Syria, Libya and Yemen

Humanitarian crises erupt in Libya, Yemen and Syria as the populations revolt against their oppressive leaders

From the very start, the price of food has played an important role in the emerging Arab Spring which has swept across Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Syria and Libya. As food prices rose so did the anger in Arab nations, where ordinary people were paying a high price for basic food whilst their leaders lived in the lap of luxury. Now, as the conflict reaches a stalemate in Yemen, Syria and Libya after months of fighting, the unsteady economic and political situation has lead to reports of widespread hunger.

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Dubai’s “Bespoke” Pearl Is On The Rise

Tafline Laylin
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5
Dubai’s “Bespoke” Pearl Is On The Rise

sustainable development, greenwashing, LEED, DubaiDubai’s Giant Pearl is starting to make its significant presence known.

The mammoth Dubai Pearl construction project in Dubai was one of the few to survive the economic crash. Now the fruit of three and a half million man hours of work is beginning to rise above the rest of the city’s large, mostly empty towers. Just at the foot of the Jumeirah Palm, the project by Schweger Associated Architects has been branded the most “bespoke” of them all.  And people are buying into it.

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Masdar’s Renewables Strategy Shifts To Wind

Tafline Laylin
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0
Masdar’s Renewables Strategy Shifts To Wind

wind energy, renewable energy, MasdarAs Masdar’s partnership program gains traction in the London Thames estuary, the company is mooting wind power back home – in Abu Dhabi.

Masdar is on target to complete the world’s largest offshore wind farm in London’s Thames estuary by the end of 2012. In partnership with the Danish firm Dong Energy and E. ON from Germany, Masdar has already laid foundations for 22 of the London Array’s 177 turbines that will eventually produce 1 gigawatt of clean wind power. As it works to complete this project in the UK, the energy company’s renewable portfolio in Abu Dhabi is also being revised to hopefully include, pending government approval, wind energy.

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The Holy Land Puts Its Faith In Climate Action

Arwa Aburawa
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2
The Holy Land Puts Its Faith In Climate Action

The Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, which includes Palestinian and Israeli religious organisations, has officially recognized global warming and need for action

Whilst the major world religions can boast some great green principles at their core such as moderation, limiting waste and caring for nature, they have been rather slow to acknowledge human-induced climate change and the need for joint action. Which is why it’s so great to hear that the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL), which represent all recognized religions in the Holy Land, has formally recognized the global challenge of climate change.

In a recent public statement, the CRIHL said, “We acknowledge the scientific basis of human-caused climate change and the threat it poses to human societies and the planet, as articulated by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We also recognize the spiritual roots of this crisis, and the importance of a religious response to it.”

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Make Moroccan Anise Flatbread

Miriam Kresh
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Make Moroccan Anise Flatbread

These warm, fragrant loaves bring Moroccan flavor to any meal.

Karin’s stay in a beautiful eco-lodging high up in the Moroccan mountains, and Tafline’s intrepid hike up and down them, inspired me to find particularly Moroccan recipe. And I find that this flatbread, perfumed with anise and sesame seeds, puts dreams of Morocco in my head with every mouthful. Tear chunks off the warm loaves and eat it like that for maximum exotic-dreams effect.

Moroccan Anise Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast or 1 cube fresh yeast

1- 1/3 cup warm water

1 teaspoon sugar or honey

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 1/2 teaspoons anise seeds

2 teaspoon salt

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 egg white, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

Semolina or corn meal for sprinkling on baking sheet

Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of the water. Add the sugar or honey and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

Add the remaining water, oil, anise, salt, and 2 cups of the flour.

Gradually stir in the remaining flour until the mixture holds together. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat.

Cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. Shape each piece into a ball, cover, and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Grease the baking sheet and sprinkle it with semolina or corn meal. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet and with your palms, flatten each into a 9-inch disk. Cover, and let rise 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F – 220 C.

Prick the dough around the sides with the tines of a fork. Brush the tops
of the loaves with the egg white and lightly sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Bake until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped, about 30 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

More breads to make you dream on Green Prophet:

 

SolarOr to Power Buildings with Honeycombs in Windows

Susan Kraemer
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1
SolarOr to Power Buildings with Honeycombs in Windows

Many governments worldwide now require double pane glass in windows for energy efficiency. In between the panes is usually a gas that helps to cut down on unwanted heat transfer. But what if, sandwiched between the two panes of glass, instead of merely a substance that helps to conserve energy, there was also an actual energy generator? That is the ingenious energy innovation supplied by Israel’s SolarOr, which was on display at this month’s Intersolar event at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

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Lebanon Challenges Israel’s Natural Gas Borders at Sea

Maurice Picow
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3
Lebanon Challenges Israel’s Natural Gas Borders at Sea

cyprus gas naturalIsrael’s newly declared northern maritime boundary: note the slanted line that skirts the northern edge of the northernmost gas fields

As a result of a series of  Egyptian natural gas pipeline sabotages by terrorists in the Sinai, the third blast occurring just a few days ago, Israel is putting more efforts into developing the undersea natural gas fields it has found in a number of locations off its western coastline. These energy explorations in the eastern Mediterranean have resulted in disputes with neighboring Lebanon over natural gas fields being developed there. These disputes have resulted in the UN declaring it will mediate in the  gas fields dispute between the two countries.

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