According to a report by an organization which reviews school textbooks, Palestinian students are taught to blame Israel for their environmental problems but how accurate is the assessment? The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE), which reviews school textbooks in the Middle East North Africa region, recently released a damning […]
The editor of the Arabic-language magazine Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia was awarded the Zayed International Prize for environmental action leading to positive change in society Najib Saab, the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia (Environment and Development) and secretary general of AFED (Arab Forum for Environment and Development) won the Zayed International Prize for the role he […]
Queen Rania is the latest Middle Eastern elite to receive criticism from dissenting citizens. Like their Yemeni compatriots currently marching towards the presidential palace in Samaa, taking their cue and courage from jubilant Egyptians, thirty-six tribal leaders submitted a collective criticism of Jordan’s Queen Rania, according to an AFP report. Of Palestinian origin and born […]
Despite this water fountain in Kurdistan, water there is scarce. This is not how poor Iraqis perceive their own shortages. We have long suspected that in the coming years, as climate change and population expansion put pressure on natural resources, conflicts will arise. The ongoing Egyptian protests demonstrate how repressed rage eventually surfaces when autocrats […]
Predictions of water loss in Yemen by 2020 threaten lives and agriculture – Children must still fetch water for towns that are increasingly parched and dry. According to experts cited by CNN, Yemen could be the first nation to completely run out of water in as little as 10 years, a prospect that creates a […]
A new park in drought-hit Syria showcases water-saving techniques Following five years of drought which has driven nearly half a million people away from drought-hit areas and put the country at risk of increasing desertification, Syria has inaugurated a water scarcity park to highlight the need to conserve dwindling water supplies.
An unprecedented absence of rain in the Middle East has Jordanians praying in Amman As the water crisis in Jordan deepens, the country’s ministry of religious affairs is urging citizens to hold special prayers for rain. The move comes after a significant delay in the rainy season and five successive years of limited rainfall which […]
About a month ago, an email dropped into my inbox by the Al Jazeera Doha correspondent Dan Nolan who wanted to cover the story on the water park in UAE. This was the park name ‘Ice Land’ we reported on which was built around the global warming theme despite the huge amount of water it […]
Egyptians joined the 350 campaign to create art and demand bold climate action In the Egyptian desert landscape of Wadi Natrun, 200 students and activists worked in the blistering heat to send a message to world leaders heading to Cancan for the latest climate conference. Placing large black strips on the ground and using florescent […]
As the reality of its dire water straits settles in, Abu Dhabi must prioritize what is grown and where. The planet is heating up, creating change. And with those changes we have new choices. Hard choices. In addition to numerous other functions, trees are necessary to absorb the deadly carbon emissions behind so many climatic […]
Qatar aims to build twelve stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in one of the hottest places on earth? Will that plan go up in smoke? Even the most stalwart fans are bound to protest a FIFA decision to hold the 2022 world cup in Qatar. Aren’t they? From July to September, although humidity levels […]
At a time when sane people are looking for ways to scale back their use of precious resources, Abu Dhabi continues to move full speed ahead. More than once I’ve flattened the gas pedal on long country roads: trees whoosh by, road lines blur, and for those few moments of abandonment, I had not a […]
Israel’s been dragging its feet over the proposed drought tax. It’s been a pretty tumultuous month for water politics in Israel. After more than five years of abnormally low rainfall, as well as decades of unsustainable water consumption (at least according to Prof. Hillel Shuval) Israel faces an increasingly dire water crisis. Back in July, […]
The Middle East is pretty thirsty right now. Headlines from all over the region chronicle the increasingly serious drought conditions affecting agriculture, industry, and health. Unfortunately, new research from the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology adds reason for even more concern. In their study, “High Naturally Occurring Radioactivity in Fossil Groundwater from the Middle […]
Yesterday Daniel wrote a sobering report on the increasingly serious drought conditions throughout the entire region. Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and Iraq have all reported water shortages that are sure to affect both the environment and international security. Sadly, Syria can also join this unfortunately long list. Syria has been suffering from a […]