This past Friday we saw the conclusion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. This two-week long conference brought together representatives from 189 countries for talks to lay the groundwork for Copenhagen in 2009, where the convention signatories have agreed to finalize a global treaty for the post-2012 period (2012 is when […]
The significant role of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in developing the study of movement ecology has achieved international recognition through extensive coverage in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a leading American scientific journal. Movement ecology is a developing academic pursuit, combining expertise in a variety of fields, including […]
“My story gathering has led me all over the world. Each journey took me to a perfect example of one facet of the problem or one hint of a solution. I was near the end before I realised that I had looked for my answers on several of the world’s most forgotten islands, self-contained places […]
Flash floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States, and a big killer in the Middle East too (see Relief Web’s report on Yemen). And OneWorld blog here on the Yemen flash flood which recently displaced more than 20,000 people. Because of the unpredictability of flash floods, they’re a leading weather-related cause […]
Israel Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra and his Korean counterpart Environment Minister Lee Maanee signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral environmental cooperation on November 12, 2008. Under the agreement, the two countries will enhance cooperation on air pollution, climate change, biological diversity and sewage disposal and will promote exchanges between environmental experts. Among the […]
With a population in the Irish Republic of 4 million, Ireland has a smaller population than Israel, but is spread over a larger land mass. Island life brings certain unique environmental and economic issues to a community, and it's clear that the Irish Government has pioneered some green initiatives, and yet is slow to respond in other cases.
Today’s guest post is by Nissim Dahan, who is working to sell his “Vision of Hope.” Dagan envisions a network of individuals and organizations to help create economic prosperity in the Middle East. Through funding and implementing new environmental solutions, like clean technologies, Dahan believes the world can fight extremism. He uses the analogy of the […]
It’s not just Morrissey and Paul McCartney who are on tour in Israel this summer, but Greenpeace’s legendary Rainbow Warrior ship is also paying the country a visit this weekend. As part of its latest tour of the Mediterranean Sea, the well-travelled vessel (the original was sunk in 1985 protesting against nuclear weapons testing in […]
Sulha, meaning reconciliation in Arabic, is an annual grassroots event held in Israel, bringing people from all religions, faiths and none, to be together for 3 days, in an atmosphere of respect and mutual understanding. Started by Gabriel Meyer and Elias Jabbour 8 years ago, the site of the annual Sulha gathering has changed over […]
In this week’s green book review, guest reviewer Rabbi Julian Sinclair unpicks the recent ‘Breakthrough’ by US writers Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger. Last month Al Gore gave a rousing speech on climate change, throwing down an audacious challenge to the American people. By 2020, Gore declared, let American by powered 100% by renewable sources […]
Image credit Keetsa Tons of soot is being released into the air annually as forest fires rage from California to the Amazon to Siberia and Indonesia. Climate scientists have generally assumed that the main effect of smoke on climate is cooling, as the floating particles can reflect some solar energy back to space as well […]
Well, that depends on how you look at it… Scientists are predicting that climate change will cause upheavals in the patterns of rainfall, drought, floods, and desertification. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that temperatures in the Middle East have increased between 2-3 degrees Celsius in the last century, […]
Great ideas for changing our planet won’t be implemented overnight, especially if it’s a technology solution like solar energy air con or the fabulously Sci-Fi vortex machine that could suck up greenhouse gas (if investors would only build a pilot plant!). Green Prophet sees great clean technology ideas every day. People email us trying to […]
Here in the Middle East, echoes of the Biblical prophets are never far off–even in environmental discourse. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the famous cedars of Lebanon, which have been a wonder to the world for thousands of years, and were used to build King Solomon’s palace. Some of the remaining cedars in […]
The chief scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Yishayahu Bar-Or, released a statement yesterday Aug. 4, (and here [in Hebrew]) warning of the well known consequences of global warming that are expected in Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean. These include a rise in average temperature of 1.8 degrees Celsius already by 2020, a rise […]