As it enters its second decade, the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership looks to create a critical mass of ‘change agents.’ There’s a gathering buzz if you listen closely enough. People are talking about environmental and social change in a similar way across an array of professions. You can hear it in the […]

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Tuesday, November 16, 2010 Dust storms scour Iraq. Freak floods wreak havoc in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Rising sea levels erode Egypt’s coast. Hotter, drier weather worsens water scarcity in the Middle East, already the world’s most water-short region. The Arab world is already suffering impacts consistent with climate change predictions. Although scientists are wary […]

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By Raed Omari AMMAN – By virtue of its geographical location, Jordan is probably experiencing negative effects of climate change, although it is too early to be absolutely sure, environmental experts said. Commenting on the delay in rainfall the Kingdom is currently experiencing, Jawad Bakri, a professor in environmental remote sensing at the University of […]

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West Bank Jews are making tourism sites of water sources that Palestinians use for agriculture. By Zafrir Rinat Springwater continues to be vital to Palestinian farmers, but recently, at the settlers’ initiative, many springs on the other side of the Green Line have been turned into tourism sites from which the Palestinians are barred. Hebrew-language […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Stakeholders of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Programme (Red-Dead project) are scheduled to convene in Israel later this month to review progress, a government official said Saturday. Representatives of the three beneficiary governments (Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel,) as well as World Bank experts, are expected to […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Water supply to the public will remain unchanged, while irrigation water for farmers in the Jordan Valley will be reduced due to the lack of rainfall, government officials said on Monday. Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar said the ministry is drawing up plans to address the water shortage […]

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Locals angered as private firms convince grove owners to part with specimens as old as 1,000 years By Mohammed Zaatari Saturday, November 20, 2010 Southerners sell ancient olive trees for use as decorative pieces HASBAYA: For the past three years, ancient olive trees have been growing in popularity, not as a target of preserving the […]

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Rangers in Gamla National Park in the Golan Heights attempt to revive vulture population, badly damaged by mass poisoning. By Eli Ashkenazi Gamla National Park rangers will release Sunday vultures into the wild, as part of Israel Nature and Parks Authority to increase the population of the vulture population in the area. The project began […]

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Some 50 presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers were due to attend the summit, which now has been canceled for the third time. By Barak Ravid An international summit of Mediterranean leaders has been canceled for the third time because Arab states threatened to boycott if Israel was invited. French national security adviser Jean-David Levitte […]

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by EHUD ZION WALDOKS 11/16/2010 04:08 Hydro-electric power is one of the “baseline” energy sources used to power electricity grids. Leviathan Energy Hydroelectric Ltd. has announced it was awarded a EUREKA grant of over €1 million to continue to develop and test its Benkatina in-pipe turbine. Leviathan said last week that it has partnered with […]

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By Abdulhamid Qabbani Although the effects of climate change are obvious in Syria, awareness of it remains low and programmes to combat it are nascent. On August 18, the temperature in Syria reached 47 degrees, 8 degrees hotter than the annual average, according to local records. Despite acknowledgement that heat, desertification, sand storms and drought […]

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Saturday, November 13, 2010 BEIRUT: Dozens of fires have erupted across Lebanon over recent days and the country is expected to face even higher, unseasonably warm, temperatures over the weekend. Meanwhile, a toxic fire that occurred in Beirut earlier in the week involved illegally stored chemicals, according to the governor of Mount Lebanon. A fire […]

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Due to water scarcity in the region, Israel has become a global leader in water reuse technologies; more than 80 percent of household waste water is recycled. By Reuters Thirty years ago, Israeli farmers faced a daunting choice – find a new water source or go under. Their solution was waste water recycling. Now climate […]

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Today the global league of activists, IndyACT, launched its “Zero Waste” exhibition which will tour the Lebanese territories to recommend the principle of “Zero Waste” as a solution to Lebanon’s waste problem. The exhibit also displays the possible risks of incineration technologies that the Lebanese government is planning to establish. The exhibition will visit several […]

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Instead of adhering to the master plan, which forbids construction on the narrow strip around the Kinneret, the authorities are bypassing the ban, flouting the law in addition to the environmental damage they are expected to cause. Haaretz Editorial The Kinneret is a unique natural resource in the Israeli landscape, whose preservation is at constant […]

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Natural resources belong to the people, the Sheshinski Committee declares, giving the state a 66% share of income from future profitable oil and gas projects. By Avi Bar-Eli Seven months after its establishment, the Sheshinski Committee has declared a revolution in the distribution of monetary gain from Israel’s oil and gas reserves. Natural resources belong […]

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Proposed royalty hike from 12.5 percent to 25 percent threatened to create tension between Israel and the U.S. By The Associated Press * * Published 20:35 10.11.10 * Latest update 20:35 10.11.10 Steinitz drops plan to hike royalties on gas fields Proposed royalty hike from 12.5 percent to 25 percent threatened to create tension between […]

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Final, 5/11/2010 Annual Conference of the Arab Forum for Environment & Development Recommendations The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) held its third annual conference in Beirut on 4-5 November 2010, dedicated to discussing the sustainable management of water resources in the Arab world. The conference, held under the patronage of His Excellency the […]

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he Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) concluded its third annual conference on Arab water that was held on 4-5 November in Habtoor Grand Hotel, Beirut, issuing the final recommendations in Grand Serail. This was followed by a lunch, hosted by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a founding member of AFED. Hariri met a delegation […]

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Beirut, 4 November 2010 The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) announced today the publication of a Water Efficiency Handbook at the organization’s Annual Conference “Arab Environment 2010” being held on 4-5 November at Al Habtoor Grand Conference Center in Beirut. The handbook is intended for use as a reference manual for identifying and […]

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