Environment and Climate in the Middle East

news, conferences, policy discussions and academic publications on environmental issues and climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean

Environment and Climate in the Middle East

Archives for April, 2010

Experts baffled by disappearance of Kishon source Haaretz

By Zafrir Rinat http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1165915.html Nature experts and other scientists and nature experts are feverishly trying to figure out what happened (and why) to the only source of clean water for the Kishon River. It seems to have disappeared. The Sa’adia River, which was considered to be a pristine oasis of clean water surrounded by the […]

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Good news for the bleak (a fish): The Yarkon is cleaning up Haaretz

By Zafrir Rinat http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1165916.html Barring any last-minute delays, within months the Yarkon will become the first of Israel’s polluted coastal rivers to meet water quality standards. Two purification projects are close to completion and will pour treated wastewater into the Yarkon. Though the injected water will meet quality standards, it will take time for the […]

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Packaging bill gets coalition backing Jerusalem Post

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 26/04/2010 08:56 http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=173949 Erdan: Recycling revolution has begun today. The proposed packaging law took a giant step forward on Sunday after it was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, which means the bill has coalition approval and should pass through the Knesset pretty easily. “The recycling revolution in Israel has […]

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Better Place to unveil Tokyo electric taxi stn. Jeruslaem Post

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 26/04/2010 09:40 http://www.jpost.com/HealthAndSci-Tech/ScienceAndEnvironment/Article.aspx?id=173935 World’s first electric taxi station to use Better Place cars, battery-switch apparatus. Electric car infrastructure innovator Better Place will unveil the world’s first electric taxi station on Monday in Tokyo. The four-taxi station will use electric cars and Better Place’s battery-switch apparatus. The firm has reduced the time […]

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Bonfires and air pollution – a tale of competing values Jerusalem Post

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS AND JONAH MANDEL 27/04/2010 05:47 http://www.jpost.com/HealthAndSci-Tech/ScienceAndEnvironment/Article.aspx?id=174030 Ra’anana mayor, trying to create sustainable city, calls on parents to save environment by implementing alternative activities for Lag Ba’omer. What do you do when Jewish values and environmental values seemingly conflict? Ra’anana Mayor Nahum Hofree is faced with that dilemma as his city approaches […]

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Ministry evaluating potential master developers for Jordan Red Sea Project Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=26060 AMMAN – The government is currently evaluating proposals from companies interested in serving as the master developer of the Jordan Red Sea Project (JRSP), a water official said on Monday. According to Adnan Zu’bi, Ministry of Water and Irrigation assistant secretary general and spokesperson, “scores” of prominent international companies have sent […]

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Aqaba reactor site ‘geologically sound’ Jordan Times

By Taylor Luck http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=26043 AMMAN – The results of a geological feasibility study show that a proposed site in southern Aqaba is suitable for the construction of the Kingdom’s first nuclear reactor, officials announced on Monday. During a workshop on nuclear power financing with Japanese and French officials yesterday, attended by Prime Minister Samir Rifai, […]

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Gov’t will not delay imposing tax on green cars Jordan Times

By Omar Obeidat http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=26093 AMMAN –– The government will not delay the implementation of its recent decision to cancel part of the tax exemption on hybrid vehicles, Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour said Tuesday. Car dealers had been pushing for postponing the imposition of a 55 per cent special tax on green cars to May […]

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Water Taxi Project could help free up nation’s roads Daily Star

By Dalila Mahdawi Daily Star staff Wednesday, April 28, 2010 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=114285#axzz0mOmF3o9T BEIRUT: With the summer approaching, 26-year-old Rayya is keen to hit the beach with friends. But for many, the joy of a day by the sea is marred by the long hours spent in traffic trying to get there. Despite government promises to improve […]

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New publication: Population growth and land development in Israel

Population and pavement: population growth and land development in Israel Daniel E. Orenstein and Steven P. Hamburg. Link to article Published in: Population & Environment Volume 31, Number 4 / March, 2010 Abstract: This research examines land use change in Israel––an intriguing but understudied setting with regard to population–environment dynamics. While Israel is fairly unique […]

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Polluted beaches result of insufficient state funding

Coast was clean just 60% of the time in 2009, Environmental Protection Ministry says. Jerusalem Post By EHUD ZION WALDOKS 15/04/2010 http://www.jpost.com/HealthAndSci-Tech/ScienceAndEnvironment/Article.aspx?id=173167 As the swimming season opens today, those planning to hit the beach must ask themselves: How clean are the beaches? How many times will the beaches be closed this summer because of pollution? […]

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The diet of worms / Keep it real, greenies Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1164326.html By Oren Majar A while ago, I took part in a seminar hosted by urban ecology center City Tree. I wanted to learn how to turn my trash into compost. Brimming with good intentions I came to the home of Tami Zori, City Tree’s founder, on lovely Bialik Street in Tel Aviv. The house […]

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Zvi Tavor, why do Israelis still not know how to use solar energy effectively? Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1164615.html By Zafrir Rinat More than 50 years after people first began developing solar energy to address energy and environmental problems, Israeli scientist Dr. Zvi Tavor has managed to turn solar energy into a widely available electricity-saving product. Today, when Earth Day is being marked all over the world, the 93-year-old Tavor will receive a […]

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Study: Environmental enforcement in Israel doesn’t deter criminals Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1164588.html By Zafrir Rinat The Environmental Protection Ministry lacks necessary authority and professional training and is largely dependent on outside lawyers in pursuing criminal charges on the ministry’s behalf, according to a study by Adam Teva V’Din (the Israel Union for Environmental Defense). The findings were released to coincide with today’s commemoration of Earth Day […]

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http://www. Could water ignite the next war? Jerusalem Post

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=173652 By D. BLOOMFIELD 22/04/2010 10:53 Israel’s 62 years have been marked by some 30 military clashes over this natural resource. Talkbacks (3) If the last two decades have been marked by wars over oil, the coming decades could see conflict over a much more precious commodity, water. By mid-century more than half of humanity […]

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Crisis on the Nile Asharq Alawsat

http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=20670 21/04/2010 By Osman MirghaniBecause water is the source of life, it was not odd to hear Dr. Mufid Shahab, Egypt’s Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs say that “Egypt’s water security and its historical rights to the water of the River Nile is a matter of life and death that cannot be ignored.” This […]

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Public agencies tackle water conservation JORDAN TIMES

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=25962 By Laila Azzeh AMMAN –– Public sector representatives on Thursday drew up action plans to implement long-term comprehensive water conservation programmes in their respective institutions. In a workshop organised by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in cooperation with the USAID-funded IDARA Project yesterday, participants were acquainted with the recommendations of the national Water […]

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PM aims to reverse Kinneret fish decline YNET

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3877958,00.html Israel bans fishermen from trawling waters for two years, plans to restock Sea of Galilee with fish brought from outside Reuters Published: 04.19.10, 14:49 / Israel Business Israel hopes to fill the Sea of Galilee with a great multitude of fishes. Responding to a decline in the number of fish in the Biblical lake […]

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Erdan: Gov’t building plans violate balance between development and conservation Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1164823.html By Zafrir Rinat Earth Day was marked around the world yesterday with a series of events that in Israel included “Earth Hour” – turning off the lights in several cities. Environmental groups in Israel also used the day to harshly criticize the government’s planning and building reforms. A chief critic of the reforms is […]

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Vineyard flooded with settlement sewage Ma’an

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=278490 Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli settlers opened a sewage pipe running toward the Hebron-area town of Beit Ummar on Wednesday night, flooding a Palestinian vineyard with wastewater, local officials said. By opening the sewage pipe, residents of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc destroyed some 70,000 square meters of the vineyard belonging to the Sabarneh […]

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