Skyscrapers (even rotating!) and dreams of vertical farms, but not a greenhouse to be seen. The Gulf is growing more and more dependent on imported food. Many Gulf countries are investing heavily in foreign farmlands that are more fertile, chiefly in Africa, but also India and Pakistan, in a bid to secure a steady food […]
Cetacean-lovers learn how to rescue beached mammals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Humans engage in all manner of self-destructive behavior, and whales beach themselves. What’s worse, because they are deeply attached to other members of their pod, when senior whales beach themselves, the rest of the “family” will follow suit. The results are devastating, not […]
The Green Abu Dhabi Art Show will soon be using one of the world’s universal languages – art – to spread the message of environmentalism. The color green will have a different artistic meaning at the Green Abu Dhabi Art Show starting this Wednesday (October 13th). Instead of referring to the artists’ color palettes, it […]
Energy-intensive water park in the desert, offers a “home” to displaced penguins. Every now and then, the Middle East comes up with a scheme that is so ridiculously un-eco that we can’t believe someone thought it was good for the planet. See us on Al Jazeera TV talking about hypocritical ideas in the UAE. Some […]
In the battle against plastic bags, the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water has started taking a more fun approach. As part of its mission to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags from the UAE by 2012, the Ministry of Environment and Water will soon release an animated movie that promotes eco-friendly alternatives. The Ministry is hoping […]
Is it the story like the cobbler who doesn’t wear shoes? Government regulated oil prices are forcing Dubai companies to charge lower fees than they pay to import the gas. Now, gas retailers in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are finding it hard to deal with rising prices and government price controls. Emarat, one […]
Every day 35 people are killed in the Gulf as a result of poor driving. Mohd Shahnawaz has launched a new campaign to change the attitude behind the Gulf’s reckless drivers. Just yesterday we posted a report that Iran has the highest rate of traffic fatalities, though that country competes with Saudi Arabia for the […]
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 […]
Masdar City has experienced knee-buckling setbacks, but we haven’t heard the last of them just yet Masdar City is hanging on tenterhooks. After questioning the dicey science of carbon credits for big energy companies, we then published assurances by Masdar’s CEO Sultan Al-Jaber that although the project will be delayed because of certain hiccups – not […]
When you’re stuck in the middle of a crowded, noisy city like Cairo, where waste piles up on the side of the street, and you can’t manage to peel back what you hope is a mirage of decrepit buildings to reveal the earth below, let the hawksbill turtle inspire you. Undisturbed by light pollution from […]
As major oil companies pull out of Iran, analysts differ over the import of new economic sanctions. By all objective standards, this week Iran is facing some version of a moment of truth. Responding to the impending imposition of beefed-up United Nations economic sanctions, French oil company Total announced publicly that it was suspending oil […]
When we think of the environment today, the West looks like the clear leader. But did you know that some of the world's most important discoveries originated in the Middle East?
The United Arab Emirates’s Shams 1 project will incorporate hundreds of parabolic trough collectors. (Image via Solar Thermal Magazine) Abu Dhabi’s Masdar clean energy company has awarded a $600 million contract to a European consortium – the Spanish solar company Abengoa and the French oil and gas group Total – to build what it is billing […]
Get your green drinks on in Abu Dhabi tonight with the Eco-Chicks and other eco folks. If you happen to be passing through the One to One Hotel in Abu Dhabi tomorrow night around 6:30pm, you may stumble across an Abu Dhabi Eco-Chick organized Green Drinks event. Green Drinks is a loosely organized (yet widely […]
The Better Brick? Although kinks need to be worked out, applying microbiological principles to design could revolutionize building materials. This researcher says she’s found a way to “grow” bricks from sand and urine. Finally! Suzanne LaBarre of Metropolitanmag.com brings us a design worth writing home about. In the same tradition as Hassan Fathy and architects […]