(A map of Jordan and the surrounding region highlighting the Disi Aquifer and the proposed Red-Dead project.) With worrying frost alerts in Jordan getting farmers anxious, Jordanians are also seeing a rainless season this year, increasing their fears that crops will collapse. Last week, officials had been calling on its citizens to pray for rain, […]
(Rapidly depleting water resources has forced residents of Sana’a to buy water from private sources. Water levels are dropping by 6 metres a year in the Yemeni capital. © David Swanson/IRIN) If you think things seem pretty dicey in the Middle East right now with Israel and Hamas fighting, according to IRIN, expect tensions to […]
(Does this guy look worried about the frost? A smokin’ vegetable vendor in a Petach Tikva market, Israel. Credit anyalogic) While North Americans in the higher latitudes are sipping hot cocoa, and have Jack Frost nipping at their noses, farmers in the Middle East pray that the frost won’t come. Last year, sub-zero temperatures wiped […]
Several Middle Eastern countries are competing to have their natural treasures listed on the new “Seven Wonders of the World” online competition. Some friendly competition for a change? The Lebanese are lobbying that their majestic cave complex will make the list. The Jeita Grotto (pictured above), sits in a river valley near Beirut, and is […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjWD8pbK5t8[/youtube] It was almost exactly a year ago that we enthusiastically wrote about Tel Aviv’s upcoming participation in Earth Hour 2008, as the only Middle Eastern city to join the worldwide campaign. We are now pleased to announce that although Tel Aviv (and other Israeli cities) will not be formally participating in Earth Hour 2009, […]
Living green is about not being wasteful. If you save up a little bit at a time it adds up! David Bach in “The Automatic Millionaire” calls this the “latte factor.” In a nutshell, if you drink a latte every day it can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars over forty years. But […]
Those who have been following the Red-Dead canal proposal, and all its controversies, know that a lot is at stake. The Dead Sea is dying because natural estuaries, such as the Jordan River, Ein Gedi bottled spring water and rainwater are not making it to its shores. Politicians think that by carving a tunnel from […]
The Red Sea is a wonder of the world. Comparing to the Great Barrier Reef in terms of coral diversity and beauty, lack of environmental awareness in the Middle East (in Jordan, Israel and the countries below them), are causing the demise of coral and other marine life. Now, a new global program that recognizes […]
“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 […]
Convening at the Ben Gurion University’s Sede Boqer campus on December 14-17, over 350 people from 40 countries are expected to meet and map out ways to combat desertification around the world. The four-day gathering is the largest international conference ever held in Israel focused on an environmental topic, and probably the largest international academic […]
The Kingdom of Jordan may be about to finalize a mega-deal with Shell Oil for the extraction of oil shale on 22,000 square meters of land–almost one quarter of the country. Some 40 billion tons of shale oil are believed to exist in the central and southern regions. Natural Resources Authority (NRA) Director Maher Hijazin […]
The lush marine habitat by Aqaba Beach in Jordan is among the richest in the world, attracting thousands of visitors per year. But the popularity of the beach is also its downfall: In just 20 minutes, divers recovered more than 150 kilos of garbage from the waters of the reef, including plastic cups, cans, and […]
There are few environmental topics in the Middle East more controversial than the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal to revive the Dead Sea, which has the potential to cause lasting damage to the composition of the sea’s ecosystem. The multinational organization Friends of the Earth Middle East (FEME), who are working to build a peace […]
As the population of Amman, capital of Jordan increases, so does the amount of trash produced per day. The most recent estimate is that over the summer, the amount of garbage produced daily in Amman will increase to 750 tons. In an effort to stem the tide, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) in cooperation with […]
In a press conference held last week the Jordanian Minister of Environment, His Excellency Khaled Irani, announced the launch of a Jordanian initiative called “Eco-Cities of the Mediterranean Forum 2008” to be held at the Ministry’s premises this coming October. When explaining the reasons for initiating the regional conference, Irani said: Our region’s energy, water, […]