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

Work on soil contamination bill advances – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 02/15/2012 23:17 Bill proposed by Environmental Protection Ministry staff would curb soil pollution and rehabilitate contaminated lands. Polluted stream – illustrative photo By Zalul The Knesset’s Internal Affairs and Environment Committee began on Tuesday to prepare a bill that would curb soil pollution and rehabilitate contaminated lands for its second and third […]

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Damage from red river could be long felt – Daily Star

February 18, 2012 02:09 AM By Van Meguerditchian The Daily Star The waterway of Nahr Beirut turned red after a sewage pipe expelled an unidentifiable stream of effluvium into it, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. (The Daily Star/Mohammad Azakir) The waterway of Nahr Beirut turned red after a sewage pipe expelled an unidentifiable stream of effluvium […]

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Heavily subsidized CFL bulbs now available – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 02/16/2012 04:32 With an investment of roughly NIS 25.4m., the ministry now partially subsidizing 1.5m. 20-watt fluorescent bulbs. compact flourescent light bulb By Jupiter Images As a young woman slurps a chocolate milkshake, the incandescent light bulb hanging above her simultaneously gulps down and swallows a heap of energy. The woman and […]

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Israel balks at adding pricey mineral to desalinated tap water – Haaretz

Magnesium will not be added to desalinated water, despite being recommended by experts. By Zafrir Rinat Despite the recommendations of experts, the government has opted not to add magnesium to desalinated water after balking at the prohibitive costs. The treatment had been estimated at a few hundred million shekels. The decision was made following a […]

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The great carbon bubble – Al Jazeera

Telling the truth about climate change would require pulling away the biggest punchbowl in history, says Bill McKibben. Middlebury, Vermont – If we could see the world with a particularly illuminating set of spectacles, one of its most prominent features at the moment would be a giant carbon bubble, whose bursting someday will make the […]

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Why Climate Change is Bad for the Jews – Forward (ZEEK)

By Jay Michaelson February 7, 2012 1. It’s getting hot in here Israel has a lot to worry about. Nuclear threats from Iran, a seemingly intractable stalemate with the Palestinians, the uncertainties of the year-old Arab Spring. But according to a small but growing consensus of scientists and environmentalists, there’s another looming crisis to add […]

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UNDP Celebrates Launching of Combat Desertification Strategy in Palestine – WAFA

RAMALLAH, February 9, 2012 (WAFA) – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Thursday celebrated, in an official ceremony in Ramallah, the launching of the National Strategy to Combat Desertification in the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT). The Palestinian Ministry of agricultural in cooperation and full coordination with all relevant parties prepared the agricultural sector strategy; the […]

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‘Schaduf’ sets up rooftop urban farms for low-income families – Egypt Independent

Megan Detrie Tue, 07/02/2012 – 22:41 On a small rooftop in a residential building in Maadi, Sherif Hosny has swapped satellite dishes for hydroponics to grow crops using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil. And he hopes to soon do the same to rooftops in surrounding lower-income areas. The name of this micro-agriculture initiative, […]

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Arrested development: Strangling Palestine’s green power – Ma’an

By Charlotte Alfred MASAFER YATTA (Ma’an) — Development organizations and green energy pioneers face a political quagmire when working in Palestinian communities under full Israeli control. In recent months, the army issued demolition warnings against six solar and wind power systems in the South Hebron Hills, which were funded by European governments and development groups. […]

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Unequal neighbors: Off the grid in Area C – Ma’an

By Charlotte Alfred MASAFER YATTA (Ma’an) — Pylons tower over South Hebron Hills village Um al-Kher, hoisting electricity cables that bisect the agricultural community. But like hundreds of their Palestinian neighbors, this tiny hamlet has no access to the power grid. The cables running above the heads of the 150 Um al-Kher residents supply a […]

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Israeli ‘tulip’ sprouting solar energy in Andalucía – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT 02/08/2012 01:15 Amid the cactus-strewn mountains of southern Spain, a bright yellow Israeli tulip stands tall. AORA ‘power flower’ solar thermal power station By Sharon Udasin ALMERIA, Spain – Amid the cactus-strewn mountains of Andalucía, in southern Spain, a bright yellow Israeli tulip stands tall above a sea of […]

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Israeli ‘power flower’ coming to US desert – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 02/08/2012 23:15 A team of Americans plans to bring the solar tulip technology of Yavne-based AORA Solar to the sprawling Arizona desert. AORA ‘power flower’ solar thermal power station By Sharon Udasin A team of Americans plans to bring the solar tulip technology of Yavne-based AORA Solar to the sprawling desert of […]

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Israel nuclear reactor sent unprotected workers to search for uranium ore, lawsuit claims – Haaretz

Former employees at the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona say were given only dusk masks, goggles during an official search for the rare mineral. By Gili Cohen Workers at the Dimona nuclear reactor were sent to search for uranium ore across Israel without the necessary protective gear, a court hearing discussing the class-action suit […]

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Better Place unveils battery-swap network – Jerusalem Post

By NADAV SHEMER 02/13/2012 03:39 There are 33 battery-switch stations already in operation or close to completion around Israel. THE FLUENCE ZE (Zero Emission) By Nadav Shemer Better Place has unveiled its nationwide network of battery-switch stations, ahead of the scheduled commercial launch of its fleet of Renault Fluence ZE electric vehicles (EV) in the […]

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Green groups dissatisfied with Dead Sea budgets – Jerusalem Post / Haaretz

By SHARON UDASIN 02/14/2012 04:14 Groups decry five-year, NIS 830 million budget for Dead Sea environmental protection and tourism. Dead Sea’s Ein Bokek By Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post After the cabinet unanimously approved a five-year, NIS 830 million budget for Dead Sea environmental protection and tourism on Sunday, green groups were not wholly satisfied […]

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Red Sea project master developer to be chosen in April – Jordan Times

by Mohammad Ghazal | Feb 14,2012 | 23:09 AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation will select a consortium to serve as the master developer of the Jordan Red Sea Project (JRSP) in April, a ministry official said Monday. The ministry has so far received technical and financial offers from two consortia and will […]

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Inspectors confiscates fishy contraband – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 02/14/2012 03:57 Agriculture Ministry’s Fisheries Department confiscates a smuggled shipment of illegal predator fish. SPOTTED GAR predator fish By Hagai Neuberger Inspectors from the Agriculture Ministry’s Fisheries Department confiscated a smuggled shipment of illegal predator fish on Sunday in a delivery that was supposed to contain ornamental fish, the ministry reported. Inspectors […]

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Illegal shark fishing in the Mediterranean on the rise – Haaretz

Shark fishing is illegal in Israel since 42 percent of the 70 shark species in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of extinction. By Zafrir Rinat In the past three weeks, Israel Nature and Parks Authority personnel have netted three men who illegally caught sharks off Israel’s shores. In most cases the shark meat is […]

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Israeli scientists find that photos from space allow better monitoring of Kinneret waters – Haaretz

Scientists believe comparing data measured on land with those from space will enable more effective monitoring of algae concentrations and the pollution they cause. By Eli Ashkenazi Scientists have been studying the possibility of monitoring the algae in the Kinneret from space, in a bid to map the water quality in the lake more effectively. […]

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Pumping stations to be revamped to cut back energy consumption – Jordan Times

by Hana Namrouqa | Jan 31,2012 | 22:53 AMMAN — Pumping stations across the country will be revamped starting this year under a Jordanian-German project designed to reduce energy consumption by 25 per cent, officials said on Monday. The project seeks to improve energy efficiency at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation’s stations and wells, […]

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