Spider study shows there is nothing to fear but fear itself
When you know the spiders are going to be there in advance, you will have less fear for them when you see them. They offer some advice about fearing Covid too.
conflict
Landmine detection using lasers and engineered glow bacteria
Glow bacteria are engineered and activated to sniff out nitrogen oxide, a gas emitted from old landmines
Yemen’s floating bomb in conflict zone could detonate an Exxon Valdez any minute
The FSO Safer from above. It looks peaceful but it’s a floating time bomb and when it explodes or leaks could be worse than the Exxon Valdez. It is locked inside a conflict zone. Yemen needs international help. Image via Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS)@detoxconflict After witnessing neglect and the dire humanitarian crisis after the […]
Why awesome girlfriends suddenly go psycho
Oxytocin, a peptide produced in the brain, is complicated in that way: a neuromodulator, it may bring hearts together or it can help induce aggression. Or in other words, why perfectly normal partners turn psycho.
Iraq’s breadbasket gets a $15 million EU grant in agriculture
Farming families in northern Iraq's Nineveh Governorate (the setting of the Jonah and the Whale biblical story!) will benefit from a European Union contribution of €15 million to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to recover agricultural livelihoods.
ISIS uses Tabqa Dam in Syria as weapon of war
Dams tame wild rivers, they prevent floods, irrigate crops and generate billions of watts of renewable hydroelectric power. But some 25 miles from Raqaa, Syria the Daesh (aka ISIS) don’t see the Tabqa dam as a source of green energy. They see it as a military base, a prison and weapon of war.
Uncontrolled Garbage Threatens Lives in Syria
Amid the snipers, the rubble and the misery on many Syrian streets is another ugly phenomenon: garbage. In Adel’s* hometown of Janoub al Malaab, a district of Hama city, piles of waste give off an odour that is nearly unbearable.
Conjugal Sex Rooms, Unplanned Pregancies, and STDs in Syrian Refugee Camps
When aid workers with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) speak to women inside Syria – many of them displaced from their homes and living in cramped collective shelters – they say they would rather do anything than get pregnant.
Afghanistan’s Opium Protected by Taliban and Fuelling World’s Heroin Supply
There are many ways to fund terror, and one way is by consuming opium or heroin: Opium production in Afghanistan is seeing record increases for the third year straight, reports the United Nations. This is because foreign military have started leaving the country and as they do drop Afghani farmers back into the hands of the […]
Kids Forced Into Garbage Sorting in Jordan
Young Syrian refugees are being forced into sex and child labor in Jordan Abdul Rahman, an eight-year-old refugee from Syria, rummages through a trash container along the side road of north Amman’s bustling Sweileh neighborhood. His sparkling green eyes stare out from his dirty, emaciated face. His bony legs appear from under torn blue trousers. […]
Export Oil, Import Water = Risky Economics for Middle East
Water scarcity has already become a fact of daily life for Egyptians The world’s driest region, the Middle East* and North Africa (MENA), is getting drier at an alarming rate. And yet, despite massive population growth (the Middle East’s population grew 61 percent from 1990 to 2010 to 205 million people) predictions of so-called “water […]
Climate Change Contributing to Mali-Algeria Conflict
According to experts, climate change and rising food insecurity are major contributors to the recent destabilization of Mali and southern Algeria Over the last couple of years, there has been a growing link between climate change and political issues in the Middle East. During the Arab Spring there was a real recognition that rising food […]
The Middle East and the Unending Quest for Stability (Op-Ed)
‘The Middle East must stay stable or else the world will face impending economic and ecological doom’ – debunking the myth My day job requires I read a lot on the Middle East and the environment – from the perspective of economists, environmentalists, political leaders, civil society and also a lot of commentary coming the […]
Syria’s Cattle Caught in the Crossfire
Cash cows in a time of conflict smuggled between Syria and Jordan As Syria continues to be swept up in violence, Syrian farmers are smuggling their livestock (and themselves) into Jordan to sell the cattle before they can be killed in bombing raids. Traders near Jordan’s border with Syria estimate that tens of thousands of […]
Wastewater Treatment Plant from Israel Wins UN Recognition
The Dan Region Wastewater Treatment Plant, known in Israel as Shafdan, is among the thirty projects from around the world chosen by the UN as global role models for how local authorities can deal with environmental problems.
Refugees to Jordan Flow More Freely Than Water
Jordan’s hosting of forced migrants is overburdening already stressed water resources. Humanitarianism has an unanticipated knock-on to fresh water supplies, as Jordan is starting to realize. Syrian refugees harbored in kingdom are draining the desert nation’s scarce water resources, reports Lebanon’s Daily Star. This presents a new setback for Jordan, one of the world’s most […]
Tire Burning Protests in Lebanon Just Dirty Smoke
Lebanese burn rubber tires as protest, meanwhile the public risks greater chances of cancer The Daily Star has released a recent on how tire burning is the preferred manifestation of anger and frustration for Lebanese protesters. After each of the recent incidents in Lebanon tire burning took place, during the civil war burning tires were used […]
TRIDE Links Jordan, Israel and US in Clean Tech
In wealthy Western countries, renewable energy developments are a source of progress, pride and smart business. For Israel and Jordan, two Middle Eastern countries severely lacking in water and energy resources, renewable energy is a matter of survival. That’s why there’s been a new green twist to the Trilateral Industrial Development Foundation (TRIDE), founded in 1996 as […]
Can Shared Water Be The Key To Peace?
Green Prophet goes on another water trip with Friends of the Earth and guests from Sri Lanka. “Even sewage has a national flag,” said Gidon Bromberg, co-director and co-founder of Eco-Peace/Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME). Israel Director of the organization for 18 years, Bromberg says he’s seen how natural resources, like water, and even […]
Climate, Migration and Why the Security Agenda Just Doesn’t Help
Framing climate-influenced migration as a threat is dangerous and counterproductive is author Gregory White Around the time of the Copenhagen Summit in 2009, there was a sense that climate change was finally transitioning from something which only concerned hippy do-gooders to an issue that affected the entire international community. Everywhere you looked people were talking […]
In the West Bank, Springs of Contention
As West Bank settlers develop water sources, Palestinians say they are excluded. Which narrative is right? Ein Ariq, WEST BANK — A convoy of white United Nations jeeps pulls into the olive-tree laden valley below the Jewish community of Eli. They are greeted by Jamal Deragmeh, the mayor of the nearby Palestinian town of Lubban […]
Israeli Defense Forces Polluting Groundwater with Impunity
Eighteen months ago, Itzhak Ben-David, the Israeli Environment Ministry’s deputy director for enforcement, visited several Israeli army bases in the West Bank. What he saw was shocking. Fuel and oil were leaking unabated into the ground on several sites. In response, Ben-David asked the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to conduct water quality sampling and monitoring. […]
Food Security Overwhelming More Than 1 Million Syrians
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a special alert on the food security situation in Syria this past week, voicing serious concern over the state of food security, especially for vulnerable groups, because of continued civil unrest since March 2011. According to the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics, inflation increased between June […]
Libyan Artist Turns Weapons of War Into Amazing Sculptures
Libyan sculptor Ali Al-Wakwak has transformed the charred remnants of war into inspiring creations Around a week ago, Libyans celebrated the first anniversary of the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. It’s certainly been a turbulent year for Libyans and although the future isn’t as certain as some would hope, thousands took to the streets to celebrate […]
Syria’s Organic Food Market Ripe for Exports to Europe
With farming traditions that are already “organic”, embattled Syria can easily become an important organic food producer, based on climate, practices and location to Europe. This past January President Bashar Assad issued Legislative Decree No. 12 for 2012 related to organic farming in Syria. The decree aims at laying the foundation for developing organic production […]