More than a playground for the rich, Dubai’s Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary protects a wild selection of birds [image via mape_s] Dubai. The very word evokes a sense of plastic dread: tall, extravagant buildings shimmering in the sharp sun, the tallest buildings, the trendiest, and one of the worst environmental offenders we can think […]
Folks seeking new taste sensations are going wild over the flavor of freekah, frikeh (Arabic: فريكة) or farik, an Arabic smoked green wheat – a staple in the Middle East for thousands of years. Where wheat grows in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, people set aside part of the harvest to make freekeh. Its young […]
Masdar’s CEO acknowledges oil and gas are finite, yet the energy provider continues to exploit UAE’s natural resources to fund renewable projects with the same quest for fame and fortune that kept us glued to oil [image via GDS Digital] Given its celebrity status and our skepticism of its real sustainibility, we at Green Prophet […]
Does it sometimes feel like you are constantly racing, while life passes by in a blur? There are natural ways to avoid this stress. Image via Stig Nygaard Rising blood pressure, muscular tension, fraying nerves, trouble sleeping and killer migraines, does this sound like your life? Well, stress is a killer and in today’s modern […]
Act confident when nursing your baby in public. Breastfeeding is good for you, your baby, and the environment. If you’re living in a middle Eastern country, or visiting one, you might assume that breastfeeding in public is not accepted. It’s true that nursing in public is best avoided in some places like Iran, where the […]
Aly Morad and Salah El Din Helmry to kayak 27 days in January, 2011 to draw awareness to the polluted Nile River [image via David Berkowitz] It takes a special kind of person to stop, take stock, to imagine how our actions today will translate tomorrow, the next day, and even 100 years from now. […]
God “Thoth” or the northern bald bis negotiates its way back from extinction in the Middle East [image via isawnyu] Syria is toiling to improve its environmental record. An internet service provider there is educating the public, and they have created a Master Plan for Renewable Energy. However, conservationists are unable to resuscitate the critically endangered […]
Are oil and gas companies seeking carbon credits simply opportunists looking to make a profit? [image via oedipusphinx] It makes some sense that Masdar City, a carbon neutral city being built in Abu Dhabi, should receive carbon credits. But rewarding large oil companies such as Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC even though they continue to emit carbon […]
Givot Olam Oil Exploration LP push to production without reservoir report or stable production rates. In the face of serious climate change, Israel’s Petroleum Law (1952) encourages haste where oil is concerned. We’ve seen it at Adullam, where IEI plans to rake up the earth for oil shale, and now we’re getting another taste of it […]
Smart Grids are redefining the electricity future. Worldwide experts in the field will gather to share their know-how with the Middle East in Dubai this December. [image via GDS digital] When temperatures soar, so does electricity consumption. At the peak of a scorcher day, everyone at home or in their offices hikes up their air-conditioning […]
Do sexual stimulants really enhance a man’s libido? Sexual stimulants are popular in the Middle East. When doing research for our recent article on the topic of Halal sexual aids geared to the Muslim communities, we noticed an emphasis on libido enhancers for both males and females on the sites we reviewed. These came with […]
Is the Mediterranean Sea fated to end up like the Gulf of Mexico? Like a giant herd of marauding elephants pounding through the forest, BP destroys everything in its wake. Despite the international outcry against one of the world’s worst human-induced environmental disasters, the Deepwater Horizon spill that leaked 92 million barrels of oil into […]
Light, fresh fruit is the sweet of choice to round off summer meals. Here’s a fresh fig dessert for adults to savor, and one that will delight children too. Figs come into Middle Eastern markets twice a year, in July and in September, but their seasons are always short. We rush to get some organic […]
Despite facing issues such as water scarcity and pollution at poisonous levels, the Middle East is still sending mixed message about climate change. Image of Mideast and earth Courtesy of NASA. There is a constant debate in green circles over whether the Middle East is really taking climate change seriously. Some days the Arab world […]
Is Geotectura’s Sun Sail just another clever design, or is it redefining Israel’s building policy? Bold and innovative, the Israel-based firm Geotectura produces otherworldly designs with a social conscience that even Bill McKibben might endorse. Their CT-cubes and hovering high-rises rival any science fiction graphic, while the X2S shelter, designed to provide physical and medical refuge […]
Learn how to reduce the carbon footprint of your wedding with tips from eco-Muslim Rianne ten Veen. Image via Amrufum The sun is shining and the days are long right now in the Middle East, which can only mean one thing- it’s wedding season! Invitations are flooding in and every night there seems to be […]
Although dust could fill up the Gulf in the next 20-40 years, according to scientists, at the moment it feeds the food chain. [image via treehugger] Whether from nearby construction zones puffing up plumes of dust and contaminating homes, or a sweeping sand storm, dust permeates every crevice of Middle Eastern life. But recent research suggests that […]
A tourist soaks up the Egyptian sun. The Middle East is getting hotter, like the rest of the world, but when is too hot, too much? It’s hot and getting hotter. But nowhere is the more evident than in Southern Asia and the Middle East. And while daytime temperatures are always hot this time of […]
Getting burned? Make your own organic sunblock. [image via: Gadi Yosef] It’s mid-July in the Middle East, and unless you plan on being a hermit in an air conditioned cave for the next few months you’re bound to get hit by some serious rays of sun. Sooner or later, you’ve gotta go to work, buy […]
The Egyptian Government has failed to provide concrete answers regarding the Red Sea oil spill that occurred last month. One month after oil leaked on to Hurghada’s beaches along the Red Sea, popular among tourists for reef diving, the Government-run oil company Petroleum Misr denies responsibility for the spill despite footage that incriminates them. Oil […]
These soldiers escort conservationists protecting the lapwing bird in active Al Qaeda territory. The Middle East’s conservation warriors are diving to restore coral and boating to protect sharks in the Red Sea. But in the western Iraqi desert, where Al Qaeada operatives are active in a region called the “triangle of death”, Omar Fadhel and […]
Copenhagen’s negotiations went up in smoke, and too many governments are seduced by the comforts of oil. Since we can’t trust the good ol’ boys to do what’s right, we look instead to a new generation of industrious citizens with the pluck to go it alone. Khaled Al Sabawi is one them. The son of […]
Shark Fin Soup: a delicacy or a crime? Yemeni fisherman take advantage of Egypt’s protection laws and kill sharks for fins in Red Sea for Japanese soup.[image via jmurawski] With fragile ecosystems overrun by tourism, waste piling high on Cairo’s streets, and an oil spill initially covered up by authorities, the recent dispatch about Yemeni […]
Summer time is tomato time, and not just for salads. Slow-roast some to taste the depth and sweetness of all their flavors. In Middle East open-air markets, we now see piles of ripe tomatoes. And since they’re seasonal and cheap, we enjoy them raw and sliced into all kinds of salads, sometimes cooking them when we […]
Persian Gulf environments like Bu Tinah Shoals would be devastated in a regional military conflict. Consider the following scenario: small United Arab Emirate states like Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are planning to spend billions of dollars on sophisticated weaponry; when one of their real dangers is the deteriorating state of the Persian Gulf and the […]