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 September, 2020

Renewable Energy in Palestine – Special Issue, This Week in Palestine, editor’s introduction

Message from the Editor By: Bettina Ezbidi The case numbers are rising in Palestine, yet apparently, we fear COVID-19 much less than we did at the beginning of the pandemic. It seems that we respond more to novelty than to actual danger. The same can be said about global warming. We are becoming increasingly careless […]

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Renewable Energy in Palestine – Special Issue, This Week in Palestine, Table of Contents

Issue: 269, Sep 2020 Readers are encouraged to follow the links to each article. The entire issue is available on the This Week in Palestine website for downloading into pdf format. (ed) Renewable Energy in Palestine Article: ABAAD Contracting Company Article: Cultivating Hope | By: Courtesy of CARE Palestine West Bank/Gaza Article: Green Energy… A […]

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The Case for Scaling Up Solar Power in Palestine – This Week in Palestine

an example of the articles in the Special Issue By: Courtesy of Massader, a PIF Company The installation of over 578,500-megawatt (Mw) globally and 5,500 Mw of solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity in the Middle East represents nothing less than a breakthrough for energy security and sustainable development in the world.*1 Located in a region that […]

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Green Energy… A Passage to Life – This Week in Palestine

an article in the special issue on solar potential in Palestine By: Hasan Abu-Libdeh Thirty-plus years ago, I visited Geneva for the first time. Aside from the magnificent scenery, I was impressed by the spread of gardens and pools on rooftops across town. At the time, I thought that this should be among the seven […]

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Ethiopia faces series of challenges on international and domestic fronts – Egypt Independent

Al-Masry Al-Youm September 8, 20 Ethiopia’s government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has found itself in a quagmire of rising domestic and international tensions, raising fears for the survival of the government in question. Africa’s second-most-populous nation now faces ongoing riots in the Oromia and Wolayta regions, and a standoff with the Tigray regional […]

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What will happen to the trees of Israel? – Jerusalem Post

By DOMINIK DOEHLER, ZAVIT/SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENT NEWS AGENCY SEPTEMBER 6, 2020 10:01 In hardly any other country has planting trees changed the landscape and living conditions as much as it did in Israel last century. The question now is how to preserve the forests for the future. In its early years, most of the State of […]

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Sea of Galilee Reaches Highest Level in 27 Years, While Heat Wave Breaks Records – Haaretz

Israel’s Water Authority reports slightly stronger flow from the Dan stream in July, for the first time since 2003 Noa Shpigel Zafrir Rinat 03.09.2020 Lake Kinneret’s water level in September measured the highest for the month in 27 years, reaching 209.535 meters below sea level. In September 1993, the previous record for that month, the […]

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Citing Coronavirus, Israeli Cities Delay Plan to Ditch Disposables in Schools – Haaretz

Despite assurances by health authorities that reusables are safe if washed properly, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv renege on commitment to greener, safer utensils Nir Hasson 02.09.2020 The move to stop using disposable utensils in schools and preschools in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other major Israeli cities has been halted due to the coronavirus crisis. Last […]

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Environment Ministry seeks removal of plasticware from govt. offices – Jerusalem Post

The idea was promoted by the Green Procurement Forum, a group of government ministries which is led by the accountant-general and the Environmental Protection Ministry. By DANIEL NISINMAN   SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 The Environmental Protection Ministry and the Government Procurement Administration have recently joined hands in an effort to find alternatives to for using plastic […]

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The Power of Deserts – Dan Rabinowitz, Virtual Book Tour

Subscribers and friends are invited to register (see below) for the virtual book tour webinar with Dan Rabinowitz, the author of the important hew book, The Power of Deserts, Monday Sept 14, noon Eastern Standard Time. Climate Change and Solar Potential in the Middle East Dan Rabinowitzof Tel Aviv Universityon his new book The Power […]

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Save the earth before your beautiful hair – Environment and Development

NAJIB SAAB Sept 1, 2020 Less than a week after the publication of figures on the unprecedented rise in global temperatures, a thermometer in Southern California’s Death Valley soared to almost 55 degrees Celsius, according to the U.S. National Weather Service, the highest temperature recorded anywhere in the world in the past 100 years. Temperatures […]

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Flamingos, dugongs and new laws focus of Abu Dhabi’s environment efforts – Environment and Development

2/9/2020 The UAE capital has become home to more than 800 flamingo chicks and nine new species since the start of 2020. Environment Agency Abu Dhabi reflected on achievements in wildlife and conservation in its half year report. Discoveries include seven new invertebrates and two plants – and follow a pledge to phase-out single use […]

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Israeli Construction Boom Puts Rare Butterfly at Risk of Local Extinction – Haaretz

Development of the new ‘Butterfly Quarter’ in city of Hadera hasn’t even begun and the Cigaritis cilissa is already disappearing. Zafrir Rinat 27.08.2020 In the past two decades there’s been a 99 percent drop in population of the Cigaritis cilissa butterfly, native to the coastal region in northern Israel, according to a survey by an […]

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On Beaches Quieted By The Pandemic, Lebanon Sees Sea Turtle Boom – NPR

September 4, 202010:27 AM ET Ruth Sherlock Twitter Lebanon’s capital Beirut remains devastated by the massive explosion at the city’s port last month. The country is in the depths of an economic collapse, and coronavirus is spreading. But as Lebanon reels from multiple tragedies, conservationists are pointing to one bright spot. They say a record […]

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Army Finds 4 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate near Beirut Port – Naharnet

The army has discovered more than 4 tons of ammonium nitrate near Beirut’s port, a find that’s a chilling reminder of the horrific explosion a month ago that killed 191 people. According to the military, army experts were called in for an inspection and found 4.35 tons of the dangerous chemical in four containers stored […]

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World Bank-Funded Dam in Lebanon Mirrors Governance Crisis – Naharnet

Lebanon’s Bisri Valley lies on a green fertile bed, a spot that has cradled civilizations dating as far back as the Bronze Age. Its expansive lands of pine, citrus trees and ancient ruins are threatened with being submerged by a controversial mega dam funded by the World Bank. For years, activists and locals have voiced […]

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Efforts to reach Nile dam joint unified deal ‘at standstill’: Sudan – Al Arabiya

Saturday 29 August 2020 The Blue Nile River flows near the site of the planned Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Assosa, Ethiopia. (AP) AFP Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have failed to agree on a unified text on the management of Addis Ababa’s controversial Nile dam, Khartoum’s water and irrigation minister said Friday. The Grand Ethiopian […]

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RSS bags Energy Globe Award for solar project – Jordan Times

Aug 25,2020 AMMAN — The National Energy Research Centre of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) has won the “Energy Globe Award”, the Global Sustainability Award, for the “Solar Water Pumping in the Jordan Valley and Highlands” project. The RSS on Tuesday said that the project included replacing inefficient, traditional irrigation pumps based on electricity and […]

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Water Ministry, USAID launch third phase of project to reduce water loss – Jordan Times

Aug 24,2020 AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation, in partnership with USAID, has launched the third phase of a nationwide project aimed at reducing water loss by 30 per cent not later than 2025. The $20-million third phase of the project aims to preserve water resources, achieve financial and administrative sustainability and sustain […]

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Lettuce from Abu Dhabi vertical farm to go on sale in September – Environment and Development

26/8/2020 Fresh greens from a new vertical farm in Abu Dhabi city will go on sale for the first time in September. The vegetables are grown under LED lights inside eight converted shipping containers using hydroponics – where crops are grown with nutrient-rich water instead of soil. Smart Acres, the company behind the venture, initially […]

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