Image credit Keetsa Tons of soot is being released into the air annually as forest fires rage from California to the Amazon to Siberia and Indonesia. Climate scientists have generally assumed that the main effect of smoke on climate is cooling, as the floating particles can reflect some solar energy back to space as well […]
Literally, postal. It was quite a pleasant surprise when we found out that in 1975 Israel came out with stamps encouraging civillians to protect their environment. Not only was the message beautiful, but the stamps were pretty darn good looking too. Designed by Israeli artist and sculptor Eliezer Weishoff (whose monuments and other creations are […]
Zalul, the non-profit marine NGO, has released it’s 2008 State of the Sea Report. Yesterday a press conference was held at Cafe Masada in Tel Aviv with over 20 members of the press gathering to hear the latest news about the state of Israel’s Mediterranean Sea. This year was a wake-up call to the public and […]
When I was growing up whenever we would go to a park or on a camping trip, my parents would instill in me the importance of leaving the area where we had just been cleaner than how we had found it. This is probably one of the most influential ideas from my parents that has […]
It’s one thing to be a polluter and another to have the chutzpah to not pay your fine. According to Haaretz, Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection is having such a hard time collecting fines that they are now issuing a tender to help collect and handle debts totaling NIS 60m. It’s a sad story, really, […]
For two days this week, at Jerusalem’s Conference Centre, the first Jerusalem Environment and Nature Conference took place. You can read a preview post here. For this Green Prophet correspondent and greenie, it wasn’t the dull political speeches and pontificating that mattered (all of the politicians who showed up, spoke and left immediately, kindly donated […]
Things are really hotting up this week in the great debate about air transport being the big nasty in terms of pollution and climate change, as well as the social impact of airport expansion. Firstly, Virgin Airways, of the entrepreneurial Richard Branson type, unleashed its first test flight of a plane using bio-fuel from Heathrow. […]
The wonderful wild weather of last week, and according to forecasts, in the week to come; has inspired a series of special water-related posts. This first one examines the findings of a new International report focusing on the condition of the World’s Oceans. It does not unfortunately make for happy reading…………………. Ben Halpern, a […]
Israel was ranked #1 in the Middle East on Yale and Columbia’s 2008 Environmental Performance Index, a system which consists of variables that relate to environmental health and ecosystem vitality. But in comparison to the rest of the world, we’re #49.