Two interesting articles were published in the past week about Israel’s water shortage and possible solutions. In the first one, “Drops in the Bucket,” which appeared in Haaretz, the article discusses how Israelis can expect water rations and increased fees for water in the near future, like the inhabitants of countries such as Cyprus and […]
Clean water, and water resources dominate the news over here in the Middle East. Recently Green Prophet reported on Israel’s “water” compensation to Jordan, and the Jordan crisis dealing with radioactive water. This video segment from Al-Arabiya offers a Jordanian view on the water story, or “war” as they report, between Jordan and Israel.
Since its inception, Israeli scientists have always put great efforts into developing solutions to help alleviate their country’s chronic water problems. Beginning with innovated “drip” irrigation systems (companies Plastro and Netafim) for arid regions, and continuing with desalination of seawater in the early 1960’s and recycling of sewage waste water in the 1970’s and ’80s, […]
As if to add to their current misery, the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are now facing an acute water shortage due to ground water contamination. These findings were made in a research project recently conducted by three Gaza academics: Dr. Ziad Abu Hein, head of Environment and Earth Sciences Department at the […]
It sounds like a fantasy of Audrey II, the colorful man-eating plant from the Little Shop of Horrors movie: Israeli scientists have developed a new device that taps into the stem of a tree and when water levels are low, the tree can text a message, email the farmer, or turn on the irrigation tap […]
A new television series, “Sovev Israel” (translated as both Around Israel and Israel Environment), was launched on March 22, 2009 in Israel. The series was produced by Israel Educational Television in cooperation with the Geography Instruction Inspectorate in the Ministry of Education and with the assistance of numerous organizations, including the Ministry of Environmental Protection, […]
(A Christian woman about to be baptised in Israel’s Jordan River.) Sunday was World Water Day, and lately with all the adverse publicity regarding the cleanliness of Israel’s streams and rivers, I’ve often wondered if there are any that might be considered as safe to drink out of, even if one were in dire straits […]
The “WATEC 2009” Exhibition, along with an international conference featuring a problem-solving forum for water, energy, and environmental technology issues, will be held in Israel on November 17-19, 2009. Time to book your hotels, and airplane if you are planning on coming from abroad. According to Oded Distel, director of the National Water Technology Program […]
Each week Orthodox Jews read one segment of the Five Books of Moses so that they can complete the entire Five Books within the course of a year. In last week’s Eco-Rabbi post I discussed how to create room for God to live within us. This week I discuss giving thanks to God for the energy […]
(A photograph of the female C. echinata coral, expelling its eggs into the water around it.) Research from TAU unlocks the secret of coral survival during global warming Trees do it. Bees do it. Even environmentally stressed fish do it. But Prof. Yossi Loya from Tel Aviv University’s Department of Zoology is the first in […]
For centuries, animals have been our first line of defense against toxins. A canary in a coalmine served as a living monitor for poisonous gases. Scientists used fish to test for contaminants in our water. Even with modern advances, though, it can take days to detect a fatal chemical or organism. Until now. Working in […]
The Middle East is pretty thirsty right now. Headlines from all over the region chronicle the increasingly serious drought conditions affecting agriculture, industry, and health. Unfortunately, new research from the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology adds reason for even more concern. In their study, “High Naturally Occurring Radioactivity in Fossil Groundwater from the Middle […]
(“Polluted Sea – Bathing is Forbidden.”) The outcome of Israel’s parliamentary elections weren’t a great surprise for many people living in this country of 7+ million people. But now that the coalition government wrangling among the larger parties has begun, the big question among environments is whether any of important “green” issues will be dealt […]
Most of us (I hope) recycle all the plastic bottles we use. But do you also recycle the many other small plastic containers you use daily, or do you just throw them away? Cheese and other dairy containers, small salads, yogurts and the occasional hummus container used to make up a large part of my […]