Byproducts from the electronics, fuel, chemical and defense industries can be far from benign. Toxic heavy metals like cadmium and lead can seep into our food chain and cause cancer. And if found in the soil, these dangerous materials can render parks off-limits and real estate worthless. For environmental, health and financial reasons, new solutions […]
There is only one nation in the world that has a net gain of trees over the past 100 years. While other countries, developing and developed, have been actively harvesting and lobbing trees down in the name of progress, Israel’s national organization the KKL-JNF (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund) has made it a […]
Why would a prominent Israeli-born professor at Indiana University decide to change his research emphasis from economics and political science to climate change and ecomigration? And to move from Israel to the United States? Ecomigration is not an entirely crazy idea, and some western people have already started planning and moving to the most suitable […]
A few weeks ago I posted that Israel’s water crisis is so bad that water might be rationed soon. I also mentioned that part of the problem Israel has had with addressing its growing water needs has been due to the insufficient handling of the Israel’s water plan by the government. Since my post, both […]
Hurricanes are Earth’s most deadly storms, causing tremendous devastation and loss of life around the globe every year. There is some evidence that the number and intensity of hurricanes may also be changing as a result of global warming. Until now hurricanes had been somewhat a mystery, due to them spending most of their lifetimes […]
With the holiday season around, kids underfoot, family everywhere, now is actually the perfect time to do some greening. Collect the kids and do some projects to recycle throwaways. Also, with everyone around it’s a good time to discuss how to make your lifestyle more efficient and green.
‘The Age of Stupid’ is an ambitious new Independent British green documentary. As a fellow filmmaker and activist, I salute director Franny Armstrong and her dynamic team for the passion and vision shown in creating this film, pulling together funding from diverse and various sources, creating the ‘Not Stupid’ brand and the big campaign that […]
Just a few hours after Jews of all stripes gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to celebrate “Birkat haChama” – the blessing of the sun – Aria Penkava slid a tray of kosher-for-Passover cookies into a solar oven to slow-cook using focused heat energy from the sun. “The sunrise was glorious this morning,” said […]
As we’ve mentioned often here at Green Prophet, nature knows no boundaries. The environment, therefore, can provide a powerful incentive for collaboration amidst conflict. Last week, in yet another example of cross-border environmental cooperation, the Council for a Beautiful Israel brought 25 Palestinian teachers and educators to their educational center in Tel Aviv for special […]
For those of us who live in the Middle East, those hot dry heat waves known as khamsini (in Arabic) or sharav (the Hebrew term) appear to be becoming more frequent, as well as more intense. They also seem to be occurring during times of the year when they ordinarily are not supposed to – […]
With the regional water crisis weighing so heavily on everyone’s minds, it’s no wonder that the Palestine Academy for Science and Technology and the Palestinian Water Authoirty have teamed up to host the 2nd International Conference on Water: Values and Rights. The conference, to be held in Ramallah from April 13-15, will bring together academics, […]
Israel has a new government, and this also means a new environment minister. The new one, Gilad Erdan actually sounds like he’s learned something about the environment before taking on the post. The hot news is that he has applied to Israel’s Acting Government Secretary to convene an emergency government session to discuss his demand […]
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in mid-February, a small group of New Yorkers—beekeepers, environmentalists, and a handful of honey aficionados—huddled together in an empty SoHo office building for a local honey-tasting session. If this had been Portland or San Francisco, it wouldn’t have been a notable event—just a harmless gathering of honey connoisseurs. But in […]
Countries in the Middle East should take notice that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is making great efforts to improve Jordan’s environment as well as that in the region. One of the foremost environmental societies in the Kingdom is the Jordan Environmental Society, which was established in 1988, during the reign of King Ab dullah’s […]
If those of us living in Israel think we have a problem with pollution and beach closures in the Mediterranean Sea, we should take a look on what’s happening north in Lebanon. A recent article in Beirut’s English language newspaper, the Lebanese Star, noted that pollution caused by both the public and private sectors is […]