Parasites need to adapt to continue living off their hosts. Almost every type of organism on earth faces parasitism, including us humans. Ecologists have assumed that the parasite has influenced the DNA evolution of its host, and some new science from Israel explores how this relationship works at the gene level. In the course of […]
For many years Hebrew schools in North America barely related to the Jewish holiday of Tu B’shevat, New Year for the Trees.
Treading the path of righteousness involves the ecology too. It had never occurred to me that if I were to go camping on Mt. Meron for the upcoming Lag B’Omer celebration, that I’d actually be on pilgrimage. I never thought of my visits to the Western Wall in Jerusalem as a pilgrimage. But during the […]
Researchers discover the negative link between Palm plantations, nesting birds and manta ray populations. Over meals and sunset chats at a remote research station in Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific, a group of researchers from Stanford University discover one of the longest ecological interactions ever documented. While Douglas McCauley and Paul DeSalles were tracking manta ray movements […]
Going green and doing it for the troops, in Cyprus “Going green” is a new defense tactic modern military: From the use of solar energy to power field re-chargers for communication equipment to finding new ways to supply troops with drinking water by moisture condensation from vehicle AC units. Armies going green is a new tactical offensive in […]
As part of the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, the Sinai Peninsula was restored to Egyptian control – an event that the country celebrated with some fanfare on April 25th, 2012. On that same day, the Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri witnessed two separate development plans that were signed between the Social Development Fund (SFD) and governors […]
A growing but still small cadre of environmentalists are taking on the final frontier: nature and intimacy. Julie McIntyre, an ‘Earth ceremonialist’ and director for the Center for Earth Relations is an ecological visionary. Trained in plant medicine, Ayurveda, Reiki, medical herbalism, wilderness survival and holistic health, she’s the lastest to write a book about […]
Israeli ecologists are creating habitat to save the severely endangered fish Nemacheilus dori, which measures only two inches. The fate of a tiny endangered fish in Israel`s northern region may rest on whether ecologists can create additional aquatic habitat. The Nature and Parks Authority is working to save the fish, a hillstream loach, in Israel’s northern […]
Maurice goes to the store in Israel and sees a “fire sale” of ceramic cookware in Israel – 70% off. Public awareness of product defects and dangers can work wonders. This appears to be the case with the recent Israel consumer awareness program Kolbotek that pointed out the dangers of cooking with some brands of […]
The Dead Sea from far above: note the divided northern and “southern” portions. The Dead Sea, besides being declared a candidate for one the earth’s 7 New World Wonders is also the site of one of Israel’s oldest and most lucrative chemical industries, the Dead Sea Works. This company, along with those operating in Jordan […]
NATO’s “steel fish” may not be works of art like this, but they have a very important goal: to catch oil spills. Pollution issues in the Mediterranean Sea have reached a point where the future of this historic body of water will be in serious doubt without environmental protection. A new project called “steel fish” […]
Is Hiriya Israel’s national eco-symbol? It looks more that way Although the just completed Tu Bishvat celebration in Israel included many tree planting ceremonies, especially on the site of recent disastrous Carmel Forest wildfires, Israel’s annual Arbor Day for 2011 had more emphasis on “greening” former landfills, such as the Hiriya garbage mountain, east of […]
Listed as one of the oldest trees in the world, the Iranian cedar of Yazd, is dying. The oldest living Iranian creature, a cedar tree in Abarghu (or Abarkuh) near Yazd in center of Iran, is about to die. There are different opinions about the real age of this famous tree considered a symbol of […]
The greatest artificial lake in the Middle East, in Iran? Environmentalists in Tehran haven’t decided how a giant artificial lake, Chitgar Lake, will impact their city. Developers already have their plans. As artificial islands in Dubai start to smell foul, authorities from the Iranian city of Tehran are pushing for a giant artificial lake for […]
An Israeli team is the first to succeed in identifying one of the chemicals used by thousands of prey species to avoid their predators. Inspired by the follow-up book Since Silent Spring, Prof. Leon Blaustein felt driven to find environmentally compatible solutions for combating insect pests. Not much had been done to alleviate the chemical […]
The aphids’ survival technique against chomping mammals may be used against them to spare crops Whether we’re trying to ensure public health in Iran or expanding limited water sources in Israel, we’re constantly mining solutions to humanity’s woes. Unfortunately, many businesses leave their ethics at home and invest in ventures, such as pesticides, that are […]
Shrimps aren’t haram for Muslims, and are tasty for a lot of people in the Middle East. But are they safe to eat if they’re bought from China or Thailand? A new Saudi project comes to light. The imported fish and seafood industry: shrimp, prawns, and various species of both fresh and salt water fish […]
The Peepoople people have invented the Peepoo bag to solve sanitary problems. Good for disasters like Haiti, Maurice argues it could solve emergency sanitary problems in Gaza. Finding solutions to sanitation problems in the developing world may get a big boost with the advent of a the Peepoo, a special biodegradable toilet bag plugged by […]
In past Green Prophet articles, we’ve visted Kibbutzes in Israel’s Negev region — ones involved in environmental and renewable energy projects. Negev’s Arava- Arabah in Arabic – region north of Eilat) we take you on a journey visiting 5 of them. While some of these are specializing in one type of project, like solar energy, others […]
Israel is very small country, as compared to most African countries, such as Tanzania. Yet despite this vast land difference (Israel has a land area of 8,019 sq miles compared to Tanzania’s 364,900 sq miles) Israel has been able to utilize 95% of its renewable water resources, estimated at 1,800 million cubic meters, and grow […]
A new scheme has just got underway for Palestinians to treat their sewage waste and purifying it for agricultural use by using wetlands. Forsaking electricity, the system instead relies on a system of man-made pools which utilise plants to assist in the organic breakdown of the sewage. The West Bank village of Um a-Rihan, not […]
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 […]
Qatar’s environmental goals and ambitions will be discussed at a national seminar organised by the General Secretariat for Development Planning (GSDP) on January 27 at the Four Seasons Hotel, according to the Gulf Times. The seminar’s aims are twofold. The first is to identify and discuss issues and challenges related to achieving the environmental goals […]
Special guest desert dwelling activist and academic Lucy Michaels, gets to the heart of the matter with a classic eco text: “The burnt cliffs and lonely skies … all that which lies beyond the end of roads:” From Desert Solitaire and why Israel’s deserts need their own Edward Abbey. In the late 1950’s, a young […]
Once upon a time people lived in a different kind of harmony with nature (can you imagine yourself pictured above?). Except for the aristocracy who lived in castles and lords who collected taxes on land, most people all over the world, especially in the Middle East, prayed for rain and sun in the summer in […]