Mining for ice, is the latest natural resource and crazy plan concocted by the United Arab Emirates to solve their drinking water shortage. A 2014 UN report dealing with climate change stated that “the worst is yet to come” to countries with chronic to acute water shortages. The report particularly noted that countries in the Arab Gulf […]
The United Nations has warned that the Gaza Strip, the small slice of land bordering Egypt and Israel that has been the scene of so much political tension, could be “uninhabitable” as soon as 2016 if serious action isn’t taken to address a chronic water shortage, The Independent reports. If that happens, where will its […]
If Shell were to design a clever infographic with a bunch of facts, it would probably highlight the amount of fossil fuels the United States imports from “dangerous” foreign countries, how expensive those imports are, and how the company could save the world if only they had unrestricted access to the Arctic’s fossil fuel reserves […]
With the region getting drier ‘at an alarming rate’, what is there to celebrate this World Water Day? In the lead up to World Water Day which will take place next Friday, I have gathered some interesting water-based facts on the issue. The Middle East and North Africa region is famously one of the driest […]
Water scarcity is not a new dilemma in the Middle East, but as populations grow, desertification spreads and temperatures creep higher, leaders in the region are understandably concerned for the future. Poorer countries like Yemen or the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan are particularly vulnerable, while oil-rich nations can at least use their wealth to explore new […]
It’s real-life Hunger Games, and the Middle East is among the busiest land-grabbers. In the last decade, nearly half a billion acres of land – eight times the area of Great Britain – were sold or leased in transnational deals, according to a 2012 report published by the Land Matrix project, a coalition of research […]
This is the fourth time that the Biomimicry 3.8 institute is staging their international design competition and this year they are inviting students to submit water management solutions that take inspiration from nature. Biomimicry is not a well known design strategy in the Middle East, though it is possible to learn what camels and scorpions […]
We’ve been talking about chronic water shortages in the Middle East and North Africa for a long time. But now a new and troubling trend is beginning to emerge in the region: municipal, regional and national governments are taking more drastic measures to police water consumption. Jordan broke out the big (security) guns to prevent […]
Adherents of Islam consider suicide to be one of the greatest of all spiritual transgressions, so when an Iraqi farmer recently took his own life because he could no longer maintain his crops amid chronic water shortages, it could not have been an easy decision.
Last week global warming’s wrath swept through the United States and hardly anybody took notice. The worst wildfires in Colorado and Utah history torched hundreds of homes and miles of forest. The Waldo Canyon fire alone, which is still only 45% contained, burned 350 houses right down to the ground. Some residents returned yesterday to […]
We speak to Mario Cucinella the architect behind Gaza’s eco schools about building under conflict, water, education and bringing hope to a desperate region Early 2013 will see the launch of a green school which will collect rainwater and regulate internal temperature using thermal technologies. Whilst such a project would not be noteworthy in Europe, […]
World-renowned Sengalese musician Baaba Maal visits drought victims in Mauritania. Regardless of criticism or the fact that its narrator was arrested for disorderly conduct in San Diego, the Kony 2012 campaign video that recently “went viral” on social media networks has demonstrated that the masses can be called to action when invisible people from the […]
A leader in conservation, IUCN aims to demonstrate that nature has the solutions to our upcoming water crisis. Thousands of people will gather for the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France between the 12th and 17th of March, 2012 in order to address the escalating challenges presented by water shortages, pollution, and population growth. […]
The EU plans to help fend off a growing water shortage in Gaza with a 10 million euro desalination plant. The European Union has pledged to build a €10 million desalination plant that will service Khan Yunis and Rafah in Gaza. This is a “medium-term” project designed to alleviate what is Gaza’s evolving water shortages. […]
Food grows where water flows, so these shortages don't bode well for agriculture. Because of this, many countries in the region are gulping up land in other parts of the world, Africa especially, in order to secure food for decades to come. But a new variety of rice developed in India that requires 60% less water to grow and has nearly double the protein of conventional crops has us cautiously optimistic about our future.