What’s that sinking feeling?

In Iran, the very ground under your feet may drop away.

The issue here isn’t war. The issue is land subsidence, a human-caused phenomenon that’s been ignored and mismanaged In Iran for decades. Over-pumping of groundwater is causing Iranian land to subside; that is, to sink.

Land subsidence causes damage like water pipes bursting, roads collapsing, and sewer and gas lines breaking. Houses and buildings crack as their foundations weaken. Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. With this land deformation, even a minor quake could cause catastrophic disaster.

The GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam used satellite data to reveal the extent of the subsidence. A tool known as Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, which spots even the most minute difference in ground deformation, revealed that land around Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) was sinking at around 5 centimeters per year. This is considered a “moderate” rate of land subsidence. According to Iran’s National Cartographic Center, other areas are sinking at the rate of 31 cm per year.

Land sinks slowly, almost invisibly. But now the effects of land subsidence are plain to see; especially when a hole in the earth opens up and swallows a whole car under your eyes. At risk are cities, historical sites, and crucial structures like Iran’s airport. In Tehran, Isfahan and Rafsajan, land has dropped by over 12 inches (30 cm) per year. It can’t be ignored anymore.

90% of Iranian groundwater is used for farming. Much is wasted through inefficient management, such as unmonitored drilling of deep wells to make up for reduced rainfall. 14.5 cubic meters of groundwater are pumped every second, an unsustainable rate of use. One way to reduce waste and water theft is to implement water metering.

One might think that innovative farming methods such as Saudi Arabia’s proposed hydroponic greenhouses might penetrate Iranian thought.

As for the largest urban center, 70% of Tehran’s water needs are supplied by five nearby dams. Now, according to current state media reports, the reservoirs are only 13 percent full.

Better management of water resources is needed, such as projects to reduce waste and recycle water; but corruption and plain official indifference impede it.

Discussing water scarcity and air pollution in Tehran, the best that President Masoud Pezeshkian had to offer was a proposal to move Iran’s governmental hubs away.

“We have no choice but to move the country’s political and economic center closer to the sea,” he said.

In other words, no plan to manage water where the majority of people live: just moving government structures on to a better place.

Climate change and air pollution have roles in this sorry story too. Droughts plague Iran. In 2024, precipitation was 60% below average. Ice formed on mountains, which as snowmelt helps fill wells and aquifers, could help, except that it’s contaminated with pollution that rises from urban air.

Human population growth also strains water resources and distribution: the population of Tehran, for example, has exploded from 2 million to over 15 million in the last five decades. With a population of 90+ million, ignoring land subsidence and the reasons it happens could eventually lead to widespread disaster.

Photos via Tehran Times

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The eyes of Aishagul Duganova, a 48-year-old mother of three, light up as she talks about her new greenhouse, which is bringing with it a new stability amidst her family’s health problems and money troubles.

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You are probably bored to death with doom and gloom news about climate change. Nevertheless, the fate of the human race and the entire planet is reliant upon the way we treat the earth. Scientists have been warning us for around 50 years that humanity is likely to have a dangerous impact on the climate of the earth. Unfortunately, we may have heeded their warning too late to avert serious catastrophe. Here are four hidden sources of environmental damage that may have passed you by. Try not to feel too overwhelmed. 

Water Waste

Water is not an infinite resource. Water scarcity is a major concern both for the welfare of humanity and the preservation of the environment. Climate change is having some seemingly contradictory effects. Sea levels are rising thanks to melting icecaps, but deserts are spreading thanks to groundwater droughts and deforestation. Without going into the science behind these occurrences, it is worth mentioning that global warming is responsible for both. 

Water distribution is an absolutely huge polluter, and that pollution is contributing to the disappearance of water sources – it is a self-perpetuating cycle. California uses 20 percent of its electricity to distribute water. 

What can an ordinary person or business owner do to avert this slow catastrophe? For starters, we should be reducing water waste on a large scale. The real change, however, will come when governments impose stricter environmental controls on water distribution companies.

Microplastics

Take any water sample from a river or coastal area and there is a very high chance that it contains microplastics. Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic waste less than 5mm in diameter. They are released into waterways during manufacturing processes or in solutions dumped down drains. Until recently, many hair products contained ‘microbeads’ – small plastic balls that took years to biodegrade and travelled into the water system via showers and baths. They might be small, but they are causing a huge amount of environmental damage. They clog up the gills of fish, and in turn make their way into the diet of creatures that feast upon said fish, including us. 

Internet Shopping

In the internet age it is possible to receive imported products within days of making an order. This has been made possible by the proliferation of air freight. The problem is that aviation is a polluting industry on an absolutely massive scale. Jet fuel is very concentrated and burns off at a swift rate. Future generations are going to pay for our convenience.

Meat

Meat and dairy production is the cause of 14.5 percent of global greenhouse emissions. Cattle farming has an especially bad impact on the environment, as cows produce a huge quantity of methane. The transportation, feeding and slaughter of animals on an industrial scale has been a disaster for the planet. This is one of the reasons that veganism has become such a popular ethical choice for younger people, who are starting to feel the effects of climate change first-hand during their lives. 

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Tracking and tracing a box of shoes with a barcode on its shipping journey from China to America is easily done with a hand scanner. But tracking and tracing every element that makes a shoe a shoe from its laces to the rubber sole, to the cloth and leather to the little bits that make the eyelets, well, it is a feat near impossible. Manufacturers know this and easily slip in exploitive labor and materials from unsustainable –– even polluting –– sources before your lace up those shoes.

But what if there could be a better way? What if you want to buy items like smart phones, cars and even your favorite can of drink, knowing that they’re made from ethically and sustainable sourced materials? It’s about to become a reality with a radical new idea in the raw materials manufacturing space, started by a leading mining and metals company that deals in diamonds, copper, iron ore and aluminum. The metals industry knows consumers are asking for more information on sustainable supply chain and Rio Tinto plans on drastically reshaping accountability in its aluminum business using the power of the blockchain. It’s an initiative aimed at empowering customers and consumers with the information to make informed decisions.

The blockchain known as a powerful and transformative idea for currency, famously, Bitcoin or Ether, can also be applied for logging and securing data for any array of industries from agriculture –– tracking seed to table to any raw material including metals. Rio Tinto has stepped up to create a new standard in transparency and traceability for the aluminium industry with the launch of START. They are calling it a ‘nutrition label’ for responsible aluminium. But the idea can easily be applied to any metal or raw material the same way the Fair Trade labor tracks organic, fair wage coffee around the world. It’s the only kind of coffee I drink now. And I look for these labels.

START launched by Rio Tinto will help customers meet the demand from consumers for transparency on where and how the products they purchase are made.

Rio Tinto aims to empower end-users to make informed choices about the products they buy, enabling them to contribute to a sustainable future, and to differentiate between end products based on their environmental, social and governance credentials.

Tracking 10 ESG elements in the label

With any aluminum manufacturers buy to make products (such as a can of beer, a tin of Coke, your smart phone and lap top, that car you’re driving and the planes we fly in) they will receive a digital sustainability label – similar to a nutrition label found on food and drink packaging – using secure blockchain technology. Rio Tinto’s vision is this information will be passed through the supply chain to become available directly to the end consumer – you and me.

The data in the label will include a carbon footprint – but much, much more. “Green” aluminium is not just low carbon aluminium – as we may have thought about it going back five or more years. Green aluminium should be responsible aluminium, produced with all the ESG credentials and considerations. In fact, the same is true for every industry. Consumers now demand traceability from the cradle to the grave, and in the best cases want to see cradle to cradle initiatives, where products can be made to be recycled easily or upcycled. This is especially true in the mining industry with minerals such as graphite and lithium, highly in demand for the electric car industry.

The label if scanned by a phone or QR code will provide key information about the site where the aluminium was responsibly produced, covering ten criteria: carbon footprint, water use, recycled content, energy sources, community investment, safety performance, diversity in leadership, business integrity, regulatory compliance and transparency. This helps you know that the materials you are using, not only the products you are consuming, are taking a leading edge on being responsible for people and planet. Look at Estée Lauder’s chain of businesses all aiming to go carbon neutral by 2030. If companies don’t start now they will be left behind.

Tolga Egrilmezer, Rio Tinto Aluminium vice president, sales and marketing told Green Prophet: “We are the first in our industry and are setting a new standard for transparency, traceability and responsible production from mine to market. Cradle to Cradle, we hope. Our vision is that customers and end users will be able to showcase the sustainability of the aluminium they purchase from Rio Tinto to their consumers. This will help to put information, data in the hands of customers and consumers so they can make informed decisions about using responsible aluminium, as a sustainable, fully recyclable alternative to other materials like plastic.

Egrilmezer explains that the concept, while a radical step for the industry, is straight forward: “If you think about the nutrition label we’re all used to seeing on a can of drink. START is a ‘nutrition label’ for responsible aluminium, that sets a new standard in transparency and traceability for the industry,” he tells Green Prophet.

“And as an upstream producer, we are the first point in the supply chain. Hence, it has to start with us. Our vision is that customers can showcase the sustainability of the aluminium they purchase from Rio Tinto to consumers. This can deliver full value from our responsible production and empower consumers to make responsible decisions about the materials and products they use every day.”

When you look at companies that rely on aluminum such as the beer and beverage industry, they need products now in a time like this. Even companies making healthier drinks like hard kombucha. They need to know how to sell their princess and packaging. Egrilmezer agrees: “And it can deliver value for our customers with their conversations with their investor/shareholder base about sustainable supply chains and ESG,” he notes.

Offering education and training

The START sustainability label is now available for aluminium purchased from Rio Tinto’s managed operations globally. Through START, Rio Tinto will also provide technical expertise through a sustainability advisory service and support for customers looking to build their sustainability offerings, benchmark and improve performance, support sourcing goals and access to green financing.

Rio Tinto aims to be the world’s most responsible aluminium producer. Across its aluminium operations, Rio Tinto’s greenhouse gas emissions intensity is 60% lower than the industry average. In 2016, Rio Tinto launched RenewAl, the world’s first certified low CO2 primary aluminium brand. It has helped to pioneer responsible production standards for the global industry as a founding member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), becoming the first producer to offer ASI Aluminium in 2018.

Among Rio Tinto’s clients are Apple and Michelob Ultra beer. They just started a pilot with Anheuser Busch InBev to launch of a sustainable, low carbon can in a pilot for Michelob ULTRA.

“Through all of this our focus has been on working closely with customers, end users and supply chain partners to drive real, meaningful change for the industry,” Egrilmezer notes, “We need to do more help our end users stack up our credentials against that of plastic to show how much more environmentally friendly we are as a material. That’s what START is, a massive step forward in articulating the good stories we have and help our end users with the material decision making process. It’s radical transparency and it all STARTs here.”

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When you think of the Nile, what comes to mind? Egyptian cotton, Baby Moses in a bassinet, waiting among the reeds to be found and brought into the Pharaoh’s palace, a Nile cruise along the riverbanks? An ancient and modern empire?  These things might come to mind if you are sitting on your couch somewhere in the west reading this.

If you are from Ethiopia, Sudan or Egypt your concerns are very different. And they could spell life and death, prosperity or war. And this is a serious time and the world needs to get involved, especially those funding renewable energy projects:

Ethiopia is about to finish the largest hydro-electric dam in Africa and the 7th largest in the world. It’s called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). We have been writing about the dam for years. But now world leaders are paying attention because the dam is about to be completed and be filled.

The water for the Ethiopian dam comes from the headwaters of the Nile where it is called the Blue Nile River, and Egypt might lose half of its Delta or 50% of arable farms as the dam water fills. 

If you are an Egyptian the Mighty Nile is your lifeforce. It is your life and possibly your demise. If 80 percent of your river will be lost, this will spell out catastrophe for Egyptian life as you know it. Who owns mighty rivers? Can a nation suddenly dam one without consideration of who is downstream? These are issues that Israel, Jordan and Syria have faced for millenial, on the Jordan River, a tiny river to compare, but mighty in its own way. 

Losing the Nile is unthinkable to Egyptians. Their pharaohs were the masters of the Nile and they built empires and modern republics on it.

The Pharaohs worshiped crocodiles and they commanded their people to use the Nile to ship giant granite blocks to build the Great Pyramid of Giza nearby. In 1970, Egypt’s post-independence leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, completed the Aswan High Dam, which tamed the seasonal flow of the Nile and transformed Egyptian agriculture.

Egypt justified its dominance over the river by citing a colonial-era water treaty and a 1959 agreement with Sudan. But Ethiopia does not recognize them, and when its former leader, Mengistu Haile Mariam, proposed building a series of dams on the Nile back in 1978, he met threats from Egypt.

The Egyptians and the Ethiopians all need the water for life

Without the Nile Egypt will not be Egypt. Food prices will sour. Irrigation will end. The millions living in slums will be cut off from basic needs. War will most certainly erupt. 

The Arab Spring, climate change, and now Ethiopia’s interest in creating a dam for hydro-electric power all spell disaster for Egypt and the western east.  To mitigate war and catastrophe, humanitarian and political, talks are being mediated by the US Treasury and the World Bank yet there is no agreement the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Ethiopia is energy ambitious, like every nation

Ethiopia itself emblematic of being one of the world’s poorest countries hopes its 510-foot-tall, 5,840-foot-long structure will finally once and for all hold Ethiopia’s dominant position for the source of the Blue Nile, which is also the source water to 80% of Egypt’s water.

It will have cost $4 billion USD to build it (Reuters) and when the dam is full and in operation the GERD will supply over 6,000 megawatts of electricity  and it will become Africa’s largest hydropower dam.

We can learn from China however on how dam’s devastate local communities, kill entire ecosystems, and wipe out major species (see NYT freshwater giants are dying). Worse will happen if it’s a dam that separates nations, already fragile. Already desperate. 

According to some sources, like the US Media Line, the mediated talks that include Donald Trump “have turned into a disaster.” Though the Media Line does not mention which source. 

America has been a long supporter of Cairo and Egypt with massive amounts of USAID, about $1.5 billion USD a year, going to support the nation. Some funneled into dubious agricultural projects like co-funded with Pepsi Co incentives to increase the output of potatoes per farm –- an expectation obviously to help PepsiCo supply more fried junk food. 

Can and should America be a deal maker in African continent and western east disputes?

America tries to broker water and dam deal

Trump thinks so and has met with water resources ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan at the White House. Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, the United States Treasury and the World Bank. All of them released an agreed statement that there is a “joint commitment to reach a comprehensive, cooperative, adaptive, sustainable, and mutually beneficial agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.”

Which basically says nothing. Or forces anyone to hold there word, but some of the agreed upon terms are below:

• The filling of the GERD will be executed in stages and will be undertaken in an adaptive and cooperative manner that takes into consideration the hydrological conditions of the Blue Nile and the potential impact of the filling on downstream reservoirs. (I ask – Who will be doing ecological/hydrological surveys?)
• Filling will take place during the wet season, generally from July to August, and will continue in September subject to certain conditions. (I ask – Who will set these conditions? Who will hold anyone to them as climate change worsens?)
• The initial filling stage of the GERD will provide for the rapid achievement of a level of 595 meters above sea level and the early generation of electricity, while providing appropriate mitigation measures for Egypt and Sudan in case of severe droughts during this stage. 
• The subsequent stages of filling will be done according to a mechanism to be agreed that determines release based upon the hydrological conditions of the Blue Nile and the level of the GERD that addresses the filling goals of Ethiopia and provides electricity generation and appropriate mitigation measures for Egypt and Sudan during prolonged periods of dry years, drought and prolonged drought.
• During long term operation, the GERD will operate according to a mechanism that determines release based upon the hydrological conditions of the Blue Nile and the level of the GERD that provides electricity generation and appropriate mitigation measures for Egypt and Sudan during prolonged periods of dry years, drought and prolonged drought.
• An effective coordination mechanism and provisions for the settlement of disputes will be established.

Losses filled by the World Bank?

The Egyptian newspaper Mada Masr reported the US administration was pressuring Egypt to accept Ethiopia’s proposals in return for compensation from the World Bank for water shortages.

The Blue Nile is a seasonal river and it fills up when the rain starts in Ethiopia around June until the end of November. It travels to the Aswan dam and meets the Nile River, where it dissipates to the Nile Delta. See image below.

Egypt currently bases its share of the river’s waters on a 1959 deal between Sudan and Egypt that gave it 55.5 billion cubic meters water annually, and Sudan 18.5 bcm. Other countries were not given allocations at that time. So basically were not part of the deal. For instance, Ethiopia was not party to the agreement and does not recognize it. If you read one of the past article we wrote and scroll down through to the comments you will see how Egyptians and Ethiopians are disagreeing about this agreement. 

Meanwhile, concerned experts in Egypt expect a minimum amount of water to be allocated to Egypt. The average flow before the dam was about 50 billion cubic meters (source) and Egyptian sources expect the continuation of 40 billion cubic meters annually. 

No one has agreed yet on how such promises will be kept. Deals made between unstable countries to start with? Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia? 

Egypt started building the dam in 2011, at an opportune time – a moment to sneak in dam planning – when Egypt was dealing with its own major problems, the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, and the Arab Spring. 

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD or TaIHiGe; Amharic: ታላቁ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዳሴ ግድብ), formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as Hidase Dam is a gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia that has been under construction since 2011. It is in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, about 15 km (9 miles) east of the border with Sudan.

At 6.45 gigawatts, the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed, as well as the seventh largest in the world. As of October 2019, the work stood at approximately 70% completion. Once completed, the reservoir could take anywhere between 5 and 15 years to fill with water, depending on hydrologic conditions during the filling period and agreements reached between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt.

Currently 75% of Ethiopians do not have electricity, and the government needs the dam to help the people prosper. Consider countries like Canada that create hydro-electric power as a way of life. Canada is the world’s second producer of hydro-electric power after China. I am a Canadian. We don’t refer to electricity as electricity, we call it hydro.

Ethiopia wants power and prosperity too. And Ethiopia has warned that millions are ready to go to war over it. 

Egypt could lose 50% of its agriculture land

How can water flow be gauged. When is drought, a drought? When should the dam be filled and then stored? Over what time? How does this work with Sudanese dams? No one has the answers yet. And I fear that in 30 years from now we will see what kind of big mistakes we made for not helping Ethiopia go solar. 

The Geological Society of America reported that Egypt would lose 25 percent of its yearly water if the dam’s reservoir was filled within 7 years.  Egyptians don’t believe that the fill time can be drawn out this long. 

Mahmoud Farouk, program coordinator for civil society partnerships at the Project on Middle East Democracy in Washington said in this report on the Media Line: Water shortages would pose “a great danger to the Egyptian Delta.. 17% of Egypt’s agricultural land could be destroyed if Ethiopia fills the reservoir in six years, and that figure rises to 51% if they fill it within three years.”

“My main fear is that Ethiopia might continue to ignore these concerns. Water is a matter of life or death to Egyptians – putting Egypt in the corner isn’t the right policy at all,” said Farouk.

More on the Nile and Egypt:

American Elections Are Bad for the Nile Delta

In The Face of Nilelessness, Egyptians Protest Water Shortages

Nile Water Kills 17,000 Children Each Year

Post Revolution Egypt Wants Windfarms

Top image via CNN.

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If you run an air conditioner, you have a source of water, as a result of dehumidification in the AC. Considered grey water, the condensation dripping from the a/c drain hose is free of chlorine, fluoride, salt and chemicals found in tap or pool water.  This condensate is a hidden boon that has many household uses. It’s not good to drink though.

Condensate from air conditioners or A/C is essentially distilled water, and is low in mineral content, but it may contain bacteria. Air conditioning cwater can amplify Legionella bacteria and other airborne bacteria, and it has been shown to be the source of outbreaks in hospitals, motels, and cruise ships. So think twice about drinking it. But it doesn’t mean it should go to waste.

In hot, humid areas, an air conditioner can produce 18 gallons (68 liters) of water a day – although in arid areas the gain is much more modest, maybe only one liter daily.  But most often it goes to waste, dripping down the side of buildings and evaporating away. 

A/C drip water isn’t safe for drinking, as you can’t determine how pure it is when it leaves the A/C unit. Being basically distilled water, it lacks the essential calcium, magnesium, and potassium obtained from ordinary water sources. If filtered and sterilized, it could theoretically serve for emergencies, but wouldn’t supply the minerals humans need. But you can still use it. Why not?

Gather the condensate in a bucket or even a barrel, if you have one.

Air conditioner water can be used for:

1. Washing windows and tiled floors. A/C condensate is also the logical choice for outdoor chores like washing patio floors and garden paving, your car, and garden furniture. 
2. Flushing toilets.
3. Washing clothes, especially delicate hand-washables.
4. Steam ironing. No need to buy distilled water for your iron; you can get it free.
5. And plants like it.  Whether you have a few potted plants on a sunny windowsill or an entire vegetable garden, go ahead and water your plants with a/c condensate. We have several of our units dripping right into the garden. 

Sort of like getting water out of thin air.

Using A/C condensate, you’ll save money on your water bills and conserve earth’s dwindling water resources. Pretty green of you, I’d say. Want more tips for a healthy, sustainable home? Read these 5 reasons why you need to air our your house.

More sources for creating fresh water:

Drone Aircraft Takes Water from Atmosphere for Irrigation

Abu Dhabi’s Costly Desalination Plants Prompt Waste Water Treatment Plans

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In 1993, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated March 22 as the first World Water Day. Water is one of the most common substances on earth, and one of the most vital, yet one we squander and prodigiously pollute. This year’s theme is “Nature for Water” and explores nature-based solutions to 21st century challenges.

Today, 2.1 billion people live without a home-based source of safe drinking water. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and the clock is ticking. 

What are you doing to reduce your water consumption?  Simple dance steps include reducing the amount of meat you consume, easily achieved by trying Meatless Mondays. Substitute showers for tub soaks, put a brick in your toilet tank. Collect air conditioning condensate to water your garden. Maintain plumbing fixtures so they don’t drip or leak.

Consider the following facts:

1. The human body averages 50 to 65 percent water. Newborns have even more: babies are 78 percent water!

2. Water covers 70.9 percent of the planet’s surface.

3. Salt water accounts for 97 percent of Earth’s water.

4. Freshwater found in the Earth’s lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, swamps, wetlands, etc. accounts for only 0.3 percent of the world’s fresh water, the rest is trapped in glaciers or below ground. 

5. There is more water in the atmosphere than in all of our rivers combined.

6. If all of Earth’s atmospheric water vapor rained down at once, it would cover the globe with about an inch of water.

7. More than 25 percent of all bottled water comes from a municipal water supply, same as tap water!

 8. 748 million people in the world lack access to an improved source of drinking water.

10. 2.5 billion people do not have use of an improved sanitation facility.

11. 1.8 billion people worldwide drink water that is contaminated with feces.

12. The World Health Organization recommends 2 gallons per person daily to meet the requirements of most people under most conditions; and around 5 gallons per person daily to cover basic hygiene and food hygiene needs.

13. Going….on average, a resident of sub-Saharan Africa uses 2 to 5 gallons of water per day.

14. Going….on average, a European resident uses about 50 gallons of water per day.

15. Gone!….on average, an American resident uses about 100 gallons of water per day.

16. A bath uses up to 70 gallons of water; a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.

17. The average faucet releases 2 gallons of water per minute, so you can save up to four gallons of water by turning off the tap while you brush your teeth.

18. A running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water each day.

19. It takes 924 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of rice, but 3,962 gallons of water to produce 2.2 pounds of beef.

20. Collectively, South African women and children walk a daily distance equivalent to 16 trips to the moon and back to fetch water

Broadcast how you cut back on water use by dropping us a comment. How are you winning the war on wasted water?

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In 2011, as protests erupted across North Africa and the Middle East, two Stanford undergrads met in a California coffee shop. Khaled and Elliot  entered into a chat about the profound potential of young leaders to create measurable social, political, and economic change. They talked about the power of collaboration, and the critical importance of sharing ideas and experiences with global audiences. The men (hailing from Bahrain and Chicago, respectively) specifically considered applying these concepts to promote a deeper global understanding of the Middle East, and better cooperation between the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the United States.

The concept became reality in the form of  student-led AMENDS, sponsored by Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. Today it consists of a core team of 25 students from Stanford and Koç University (a non-profit private university in Istanbul) representing many countries and cultures working together to progress projects across MENA including citizen journalism, water conservation, micro-finance, and community organizing.

Every year delegates selected from MENA and the US meet at a 5-day summit where they can develop key skills, network with established leaders and share initiatives with a larger audience. This year’s meeting took place in Istanbul. Strategic Director, Baris Akis, as stated on the AMEND website, told Elan magazine that “this conference is important because it focuses on the growth of people and their projects. Secondly, there’s an exchange of ideas and knowledge of best practice; it also provides access to each others networks and initiates a dialogue among delegates that will hopefully create a greater impact and positive results across all organizations”.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/X-TSs1qbHNs[/youtube]

The event, the fourth annual edition, took place in March. It featured delegates like Mohamed Amine Belarbi, who founded a non-profit youth policy-making institute with 6 branches in the MENA region with aspirations to channel young voices into enhanced governance and policy making. There was Samia Ayyash, who founded Baqqa Sisterhood, an educational system with a curriculum designed to empower young girls through asset-based community development and experiential learning at the Baqaa’ refugee camp for Palestinians in Jordan. Sanwal Muneer discussed his project to manufacture a device that harvests clean energy from air turbulence created by highway traffic in Pakistan; he is the only Pakistani to be endorsed by UK Trade and Investment to set up his green energy start-up in Britain through their Sirius Program, which supports international graduates who want to start and grow a business in the UK.

As one delegate remarked, “Stories matter, people matter.  Let’s hear the people, let’s humanize each story.” Green Prophet is all about breaking down boundaries, urging constructive collaboration, and broadcasting positive stories from this region.

Learn more about these inspiring young entrepreneurs and idea makers on Amends official website and follow them on Facebook to keep up with the dialogue, get involved, and support their work.

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­The Dubai Rainforest will sit within Damac Properties’ Akoya Oxygen master community. It aspires to replicate a natural rainforest environment fully enclosed inside a massive dome to withstand the surrounding desert climate.

“Dubai is known around the world for attracting the biggest and best and the Dubai Rainforest joins that list of unique attractions which will support the growth of the city,” said Ziad El Chaar, managing director of Damac Properties.

Visitors to the site will begin their tour by exploring ground level gardens, then climb progressively higher into the treetop canopy, all the while learning about the habitat’s flora and fauna. Billed as an educational and cultural experience, the forest will feature zip lines and walkways through the canopy, a climbing wall and a spa which will offer hydro-thermal treatments among rock pools and steam baths. The facility will be near to Donald Trump’s golf course, rounding out the ridiculousness of the eco-scheme.

“To create an artificial forest in such harsh conditions, they are challenging nature,” Dr. Ali El-Keblawy, associate professor at the University of Sharjah and director of the Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium, told the National. He added that the project’s expected high water footprint is unsustainable in a desert climate.

Unlike desert shrubs and trees, which use various strategies to survive on small amounts of water, plants that thrive in rainforests need high amounts of moisture. El-Kablawy pointed out that containing the artificial rainforest within a sealed dome and creating a closed system will help reduce water loss through evaporation.

The rainforest will open ahead of World Expo, which Dubai will host in 2020 and has pledged will be a “monument to the green economy”. Meanwhile, Dubai developers have ­announced plans to build the world’s tallest twin towers and the largest shopping mall (besting a title The Dubai Mall ­already holds). Exact replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal are in planning, and the world’s biggest Ferris wheel is already under ­construction.

Local environmentalists are finally speaking out, saying that projects like the rainforest will hinder government efforts to control the city-state’s rapidly increasing water and energy ­consumption. The United Arab Emirates has the highest level of water consumption per capita on earth.

“There should be a critical study before they start,” said Dr El-Keblawy. “They should assess the impact of this on the environment.”  Does this mean they haven’t?

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Italian architect Arturo Vittori and his colleague Andreas Vogler designed a low-tech machine, based on passive design, that can produce between 50 and 100 liters of clean drinking water daily, without electrical equipment and independent of land-based water sources.

This inexpensive, easily assembled tower was designed specifically for rural communities in Ethiopia that lack access to safe drinking water. Turns out these 30-foot-tall, sculptural towers that pull potable water from the air can be deployed most anywhere, including the deserts of the Middle East.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=rDXWK5GRaiQ

Warka water towers collect rainwater and extract clean water from fog and dew. They are made from biodegradable materials that can be sustainably sourced and locally fabricated as ready-to-assemble kits that cost about $1,000 USD to produce. With minimal training, a team of four to six unskilled villagers can construct one in a day. Assembly is straightforward, using basic tools. 

The biomimetric design, based on passive design, is informed by the natural water-collecting properties of Namib beetles, termite hives, and cacti. It incorporates cultural references such as Ethiopian basket weaving, traditional fish trap design, and the Warka tree, an indigenous fig tree whose shade provides a traditional place of village gathering.

Fog-harvesting devices are not new, but Vittori’s version yields more water at a lower cost than earlier concepts.  One of his first Warka prototypes is pictured above.

The tower consists of lightweight and flexible bamboo stalks, woven to allow unobstructed airflow and stability in the face of strong wind. It’s “crown” is designed to deter bird perching. A nylon mesh net hangs inside and collects dew drops that form along its surface. As air temperatures drop, the droplets gravitate down into a container at the tower bottom where it passes through a tube to people on the ground.

System maintenance is also simple, requiring regular monitoring and periodic replacement of filters, occasional mesh fabric repairs and periodic tightening of support cables. The development team at Vittori’s architectural firm, Architecture and Vision, estimate that a tower’s shelf-life in this African setting will reach 10 years.

According to Australian water conservancy organization the Water Group, Ethiopians spend 40 billion hours a year trying to find and collect water. Once found, the water is often unsafe, as ponds and lakes are often teeming with infectious bacteria or contaminated with animal waste. But don’t be seduced into thinking this is just an African problem.

Water scarcity is one of today’s most urgent world problems. In the past hundred years, our water use has grown at more than twice the rate of population increase.  Earth holds enough freshwater for seven billion people but distribution is uneven and much is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.

A United Nations Water Human Development Report published in 2006 stated water scarcity affects every continent.  Consider that around 1.2 billion people (one fifth of the world population) live in areas of water scarcity. Another 1.6 billion people live in countries that lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers.

Build new wells, you say? Vittori told Smithsonian, “[In Ethiopia], public infrastructures do not exist and building a well is not easy. To find water, you need to drill in the ground very deep, often as much as 1,600 feet. So it’s technically difficult and expensive. Moreover, pumps need electricity to run as well as access to spare parts for when the pump breaks down.”

Toilets for People founder, Jason Kasshe, wrote in a New York Times editorial, “If the many failed development projects of the past 60 years have taught us anything, it’s that complicated, imported solutions do not work.”

Green Prophet has broadcast innovative water-production kit such as Eole’s double-duty turbines that wick water from wind, and South American billboards that siphon water from the atmosphere. Other low-tech water purification inventions like the Life Straw need a traditional water source.

The Warka water towers may lessen the devastating impacts of water scarcity in specific locations, but we need to act now – everyone, everywhere – to smarten up about conservation and peaceful cooperation about this most essential planetary resource. This goes beyond peeing your shower, or dropping a brick in your toilet.

Water is more than a building block of life, it can a be a powerful tool for peace between nations. Mumbai-based think tank Strategic Foresight Group (SFG), asserts that trans-boundary water cooperation directly correlates with regional stability and peace. The inverse also holds true: failure to collaborate when managing shared water resources raises the risk of war.  Efforts like these water-producing towers are a small step in the right direction.

Nine towers have been built so far; a prototype installed in Bomarzo, Italy allows for testing and design changes. The team is working on version 3.1 (see lead image) while searching for investment partners to allow project scale-up.

The first Ethiopian pilot is scheduled for early 2015.

Update May 1, 2019:

The Warka Tower, Ethiopia, has been selected as one of the 20 shortlisted projects for the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Kazan, Russian Federation, 25 April 2019 – The 20 shortlisted projects for the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture were announced in Kazan at an exhibition on the Aga Khan Award for Architecture that was inaugurated by His Excellency Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

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