Breastfeeding and Islam
Islamic states have the highest infant mortality rate in the world thanks in large part to a decline in breastfeeding.
Saudi Arabia
With So Much Oil & Natural Gas, is Biofuel a Viable Mideast Fuel Option?
A prototype algae biomass farm. Will it work in the super dry Middle East? Biomass, a renewable energy source based on biological material from living or recently living organisms, is hailed as a possible fuel source to provide power for everything from cars and aircraft to electricity for homes, businesses and factories. Previous articles on […]
Green Prophet Flies To “The Saudi Green Blog”
A weekly Green Prophet series that looks at the Arabic “green” blogosphere and online communities. After looking at a personal Iraqi environmental blog, and at “The Forum of the Ornithological Society of Kuwait, we are arriving at the Gulf countries. This time, we are flying to Saudi Arabia and to a blog called “Green Papers”. […]
Only 1 in 25 Emiratis Use Their Legs to Walk
Legs? Who needs them when you can drive. Maybe this is why diabetes rates in the Gulf region are among the highest in the world. We already know about the terrible rates of road accidents in Saudi Arabia, the dangerous practice of car drifting, and the admiration for gold-plated cars. Now, a new study finds […]
How To Handle Record High Summer Temperatures
We understand the impulse to stay cool and protect blood and brains from cooking, but it is wise to exercise caution in order to ensure a lasting electricity supply for everyone while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions.
Is the Middle East taking Climate Change Seriously?
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 […]
Record High Summer Temperatures are also Scorching the Middle East
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 […]
Abu Dhabi’s Costly Desalination Plants Prompt Wastewater Treatment Plans
Treating wastewater and encouraging water efficiency balances high cost of desalination in water-scarce countries. To some, desalination plants are the Middle East’s holy grail. Israel’s IDE launched its 3rd such plant, and Bahrain has joined the fray with theirs. However, it is no coincidence that in the last year alone Israel has also experienced a […]
Water from Alaska to the Middle East – Like Towing Icebergs from Antarctica?
Will Alaska’s crystal clear lakes quench the thirst of the Middle East? It looks like the old water trading game is once again getting attention. While it formerly involved such schemes as towing icebergs from Antarctica to Saudi Arabia, as well as bringing water in converted tanker vessels from Turkey (which now has a severe […]
Saudis Listen to Call for Green Hajj
The Mecca of green? “Green” activism has defined Jewish and Christian culture for decades already. Now, Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia keen to “green” the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Yussif Osman sits quietly by his desk, a framed piece of cloth behind him next to a picture of his father who died just a few years […]
More Trouble for Nestle: Saudi Arabia Bans Products after Shards of Glass Found in Coffee
Nestle coffee products banned in Saudi Arabia for “glass shard scare” Nestle has the dubious honor of being one of the most boycotted companies on the planet. Glass in some jars of instant coffee led to a recent Saudi Arabian ban on many of the company’s products. Nestle’s aggressive and deceptive marketing of artificial baby […]
Saudi Arabia's First Solar Installation Goes Online
This solar rooftop in Saudi Arabia, shown here during construction, is now complete and connected to the grid. (Image via Flickr) The world’s largest oil producer is now generating electricity from the sun. Saudi Arabia’s National Solar Systems (NSS) and Conergy, a German-based solar consortium, last week announced the completion of a solar park on […]
The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Opens Pandora's Box at Alberta Tar Sands
How can the polluting oil tar sand oil extraction – here Opti Canada’s operations – be better than offshore drilling? The Gulf of Mexico oil “leak” is a gusher pouring as much as 3.4 million gallons of oil into the waters every day, scientists estimate in a NY Times story. It’s below the surface what […]
Masdar City: A Diversion from the Crucible of Climate Change
Built on the profits of oil, should Masdar hold the mantle of energy leadership for the world? Yosef asks. According to the Masdar City website, the undertaking is intended to be Abu Dhabi’s “multi-faceted response to the challenges facing a sustainable future.” The city, intended to house 50,000 residents in a kind of technosphere designed […]
Saudi Splurges for Shanghai Expo 2010
Despite its claim to promote sustainable urban development practices, the world’s largest, disposable Expo invites irony and criticism. The first ever world fair took place in 1851 at Prince Albert’s behest. That fair was initiated to display participating nations’ industrial prowess. The tradition continues with ever-increasing largesse, culminating in this year’s World Expo that officially […]