What is Land “COP” in Saudi Arabia and why should we care?
The UN COP events aren't only about climate change. There is a COP for the land and the meeting is happening now in Saudi Arabia.
Desertification
Holding back the deserts with a saxaul tree
Africa is getting its Great Green Wall, meanwhile Saudi Arabia is also suffering from climate change-induced draught and is starting to do something about it by planting more local trees that love the desert.
Africa’s Great Green Wall works!
Africa’s Great Green Wall (GGW) programme to combat desertification in the Sahel region is not only crucial to the battle against climate change but also makes commercial sense for investors, a new study led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and published in Nature Sustainability shows.
UN applies agricultural tech innovation to improve drought resilience for farmers
Today is World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought celebrations, and the FAO's Graziano da Silva said: "It is quite impossible to avoid a drought from happening, but we can avoid a drought turning into famine or displacement of people."
Kuwait to endure unlivable August heat and humidity
A Kuwaiti meteorologist warns said the tiny coastal country on the Persian (Arabian) Gulf will witness a significant rise in temperature and relative humidity in the second half of August. Could be a good time to plan that trip to Iceland. Weatherman Issa Ramadan told Annahar Daily that extreme weather conditions would increase airborne dust and exacerbate air pollution across Kuwait. He […]
Bio-Pyramid turns Egyptian pyramid into a desert-reversing skyscraper!
Seven designers teamed up on a project to transform an ancient Egyptian pyramid into a green skyscraper that works to reverse desertification. Their Bio-Pyramid concept won an honorable mention in the 2015 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, an award that recognizes outstanding ideas that challenge the way architecture relates to both natural and built environments. Could up-cycling the Great […]
This “Green Machine” mobile city fertilizes the Sahara Desert as it moves
Posterity may end up migrating from place to place to find food like our nomadic ancestors did if we don’t get a hold of desertification and climate change. To make that easier for desert dwellers, Stephane Malka and Yachar Bouhaya propose the Green Machine – a massive city on tank treads that fertilizes the Sahara […]
Wind-powered Tumbleweed robot rolls back encroaching deserts
Desertification has gobbled up huge swaths of the Middle East and North Africa, a fact that Jerusalem-based industrial designer Shlomi Mir knows all too well. So he designed Tumbleweed Desert – a rolling robot capable of spending many solitary years in the desert gathering data aimed at slowing encroaching deserts.
Middle East Deserts as Seen From Space: Far-Out Photos!
The European Space Agency (ESA) publishes satellite photos of Earth (and photos of space taken from Earth) in an incredible archive that’s updated weekly. Each image is paired with a brief explanation about what you’re looking at. Check out this selection – if the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) could take “selfies”, these would […]
Climate Change in the Arab World – a New Blog
We are absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of a new blog that will devote itself to climate change in the Arab world, a looming disaster that has been eclipsed by the rather more dramatic social and political events dominating the region’s discourse.
Environmental Protests of the Middle East Show Eco Awareness in Arab World
During the last six years, the words energy security, water security, and food security could be found a lot in the Arab media. Since most of the Arab media is controlled by the Arab regimes, the appearance of these items shows that the environmental awareness of the Arab regimes has been on the rise.
Qatar’s First Saltwater Barley Crop Sprouts in the Desert
Water scarcity combined with desertification makes for a scary combination in the Middle East, but The Sahara Forest Project (SFP) is pioneering a promising solution: greenhouses that use saltwater to grow food in the middle of the desert.
Superpower “Laxative Nut” Jatropha Tree Could Solve Egypt’s Fuel Crisis
In Egypt, people often have to line up for hours to fill their cars and trucks with diesel fuel – particularly during summer months when it comes at a premium. Concerned to ease these shortages, as well as pollution and climate change, Egyptian agricultural engineer Wadad Khaireddine is pushing to grow a desert full of […]
Saudi Agriculture To Be Hit Hard by Climate Change
Saudi Arabia and climate change do not mix well as this photo indicates As Earth Day 2013 approaches on April 22, issues of water options in arid countries like Saudi Arabia will be high on the agenda. Countries in the Middle East that face increasing water shortages, especially those situated on the Arabian Peninsula, have to […]
Livestock are Key to Reversing Desertification, Biologist Says
When he first began his career as a young biologist, Allan Savory basically ordered the culling of 40,000 elephants. He and other scientists in Zimbabwe observed that former grasslands set aside as national parks were turning to desert and decided, after considerable research, that elephants were responsible. But it didn’t help to kill them. In […]