Plant pathologist Norman Borlaug, 95, died this Saturday, raising questions about the legacy of industrial food in the Third World. In 1970, Borlaug received a Nobel Peace Prize for averting famine through bringing fertilizers, pesticides and new plant strains to countries like India, Mexico and Pakistan. But environmentalists argue that his plant engineering only delayed […]
The evils of plastic water and beverage bottles have already been noted in previous Green Prophet articles, including one dealing with bottled water conflicting with green values ; and another more recent one that noted how so-called bottled water is really mostly tap water that is bottled and then sold at premium prices. But now, there may […]
According to the blog 360East, Amman is about to adopt a Bus Rapit Transit system and make plans for installing light rail, two important steps to break Amman’s 30-year love affair with the private car. Having lived in Amman in summer 2006, I can attest that buses are a mess. They are very cheap but […]
Summer is always hot in the Middle East, but this season has gotten really fiery in Lebanon, where blazes have damaged over 15 million square meters of forest since June. The Lebanese Daily Star reports that farmers who burn their land after clearing it don’t take note of wind and dry conditions that quickly spiral […]
With the regional drought carrying on for its third year, Iraq is in a water bind as its rivers dry up. Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reports that Baghdad has urged Istanbul and Damascus to release water so that residents of southern Iraq don’t flee of thirst. The problem is that they are suffering from water […]
Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) is an Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian environmental organization that has been doing a lot of good since 1994. The organization focuses on promoting cooperative efforts in order to solve communal environmental problems in the Middle East and improve relations between the people in the region. Now they are […]
The Gulf of Aqaba (also known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat) is an important Middle Eastern body of water. The 99 mile long extension of the Red Sea is surrounded by four countries – Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia – and houses coral reefs and hundreds of fish and invertebrate species. Since […]
The UAE Emirate state of Qatar is planning to launch an environmental program to turn desert areas into usable pasture lands and other green areas by findings ways such as desalination. They also plan on replenishing the country’s rapidly depleting ground water resources, and using scientific innovations for growing of grass and other plant life […]
Israeli solar energy companies such as Solel Solar, Aora, Ormat technologies, and a host of others are now world leaders in the development of sun power to produce electricity. But Israel, a small country of 7 million, with more than half its land area being desert, has been a solar energy pioneer virtually since its […]
World Water Week, an annual meeting in Stockholm about the world’s most urgent water-related issues, took place this year between August 16-22. Organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), it brought together water experts, practitioners, decision makers, and global leaders in order to come up with solutions to international water crises. It also recognized […]
Last week we heard about the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna) going into private homes in Amman and installing water conservation devices, but now they’ve gone straight to Jordan’s youth. Aiming to raise children’s awareness of the importance of water conservation, the Jordan Water Company held its first ever children’s water festival in Amman last Tuesday. […]
A new NGO, known as Green Ramadan, plans to make Muslims and non-Muslims more aware of protecting the environment. Daniella touched on the new Ramadan project earlier. Meanwhile the organization is so new that its website, www.greenramadan.org is still in the development stages. Yet, the message being given will hopefully bring a new awareness among Muslims, […]
With one half in Asia and the other in Europe, the cultural hub of Turkey has long depended on two bridges to link the city over the Bosphorus Straits (above). But a proposed third one has raised the ire of environmentalists who say it will damage the city’s forests and water resources, reports the English-language […]
Although Lebanon’s Christian and Muslim communities live in an uneasy balance, a trendy farmers market has helped bring the nation’s diverse groups together to sell traditional food. According to Agence France-Presse, 47 families sell fruit, vegetables, preserves and bread in Beirut’s Souq El Tayeb, the first farmers market in the country. Chef and TV personality […]
Jordan opened 15 lower-cost vegetable markets Saturday in several cities in honor of Ramadan, the month-long Muslim fasting holiday that began Friday. According to the Jordan Times, the government began the market program last Ramadan. In exchange for a free stall, water and electricity, farmers agree to mark their produce down 30 percent. The program […]
A year ago, James wrote an article on Green Prophet about a unique organization known as the Sulha Peace Project and its role in reconciliation among peoples of different religious faiths and cultures, which is what the word sulha or reconciliation in Arabic is supposed to be about. The Sulha Peace Project was founded in […]
Last week we had news that Gaza and Israel are smoking a peace pipe for water. Now this is more news that should bring a smile to the face of every leader in the Middle East: A true regional partnership, brokered by three peace foundations – that is about to reduce biomass pollution for Israelis, […]
Farmers in northeastern Turkey are furious at the government’s plans to flood the verdant region with eight hydroelectric dams. According to the Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey is scrambling to meet its energy needs, and the Macahel basin is one of 550 sites in the Black Sea area marked for dams. The Macahel Basin was declared […]
Yalla Nwaffer Mai, or Let’s Save Water is a water conservation campaign launched in July by the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna), HSBC Bank, and USAID to fight water waste and create awareness about the need to conservate water in Jordan. Jordan is categorized as the fourth water-poorest country in the world. The target of the […]
They chew this stuff on a daily basis, like Bolivians and other South American mountain people chew cacao leaves. It gives people in Yemen and other Arabian Peninsula countries a mild, narcotic-like effect; and unfortunately, it is ruining the economy of Yemen due to do many people getting “hooked” on it. What is this […]
The NATO Science for Peace Program and the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) recently awarded grants to researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev to continue working on a novel desalination method. In a region where potable water sources are so scarce, these methods are crucial to water independence and reducing reliance upon […]
After reviewing Jordan’s current environmental laws and discovering that there were many loopholes that enabled violators to avoid punishment, the Jordanian Ministry of Environment has decided to amend their laws. And they’ve decided to do it fast, within the next five months. Jordan currently has 21 legislations protecting the environment, but since they often contradict […]
A recent article in Israel’s Globes financial newspaper, explores how Israel’s valuable exports of Dead Sea mined potash to India will be reduced this year due to the weakest monsoon season in India in five years. The article Weak Monsoon Dries up Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL) Potash Exports may result in a reduction of Israeli potash exports […]
Representatives of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority met last week to study ways to undertake a project known as the “Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program, according to Globes. The meeting, hosted by Jordan, was headed by representatives of the World Bank, with the purpose of forming a committee to study ways in […]
If until now you worried about carbon offsets for your international flights, you may want to add baby crocodiles to the list of concerns. On Friday, a foot-long croc was found scurrying down the aisles of an EgyptAir flight from Abu Dhabi to Cairo. The Emirati paper The National reports that EgyptAir has claimed the […]