We don’t want to perpetuate any kind of hype during this immensely sensitive time in the Middle East, but now does seem like a good opportunity to share an Israeli design for a portable bomb shelter that’s got your back during war.
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While many companies in the Middle East are grabbing land throughout Africa to buffer resource scarcity, Abu Dhabi-based firm Nahtam has plans to plant an organic farm in Ghana to offset carbon and create jobs.
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The 3,500 square meter Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) sees more time under the spotlight as Portuguese photographer Nelson Garrido’s new photographs of Arata Isozaki’s striking design surface.
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When the $10 billion Red-Dead Canal plan got the axe earlier in August, we discussed plan B for restoring some sense of water security to northern Jordan: a smaller desalination plant in Wadi Araba to trade water with Israel and Palestine.
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Red tides are toxic to both coral reefs and desalination plants in the Arabian/Persian Gulf, according to The National, so Masdar Institute has teamed up with government-backed Bayanat for Mapping and Surveying Services to predict and protect against harmful algae blooms.
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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.
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A particularly virulent strain of stem rust that first struck Uganda’s wheat crops in1999 before it spread up into Sudan and Yemen, Ug99 might have met its match in a 5,000 year old weed.
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Dubai International, soon to be the world’s largest airport, is focusing on sustainability with its newly proposed concourse D. The wing, which is the future home to 100 additional airlines, is scheduled to open in 2015.
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Meet Elif Bilgin, the latest in a string of wunderkids from the Middle East and North Africa, who invented a bioplastic made from banana peels.
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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.
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Tall glass buildings have come to dominate the Dubai and Abu Dhabi skylines, which makes absolutely zero sense given that summer temperatures consistently burst their seams in the region. But now the UAE has imported NASA-developed transparent panels that deflect heat back into the atmosphere.
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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.
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Desertification, water scarcity and food security are among the most important byproducts of rising temperatures due to increased CO2 emissions, but researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia have found that higher CO2 concentrations are also greening the Middle East.
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Drip irrigation technology is a key component of Israel’s agricultural success, and Netafim is one of the industry’s leaders. Founded in 1965 and currently operating in more than 100 countries, the company recently received the prestigious 2013 Stockholm Industry Award.
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From a €17 pad in Sharm Sheikh to a €61 room on Gaza Beach and a cave home in Israel, AirBnB is used widely across the Middle East, but the San Francisco-based startup ran into a glitch recently which could mean trouble for the rest of the world.
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