Category Archives: Environment

Anthropogenic Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystems

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Anthropogenic climate change is hindering a wide variety of organisms, their genetics and species’ habitats – in short, biodiversity. The accelerated pace of human development and its impacts on biodiversity which sustain it, is both massive and significant. Biodiversity is inextricably linked to climate; climate change is both a cause and an effect of biodiversity change. Climate change jeopardizes the services offered by the global ecosystems that have been taken for granted. Let us examine how climate change is affecting specific ecosystems. Agricultural Ecosystem Agricultural ecosystems are spread around the globe; hence, the impacts of climate change on agricultural biodiversity will be diverse and extensive. … Continue reading →

ثقافة المجتمعات الأصلية في معادلة السلوك البشري والتنمية المستدامة

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المجتمعات الأصلية في المناطق المختلفة من العالم التي قطنت الغابات والجبال والسيوح والسهول والمناطق البرية والساحلية، بنت منظومة من القيم والتقاليد والثقافات المتعارف عليها التي صارت على مر الزمن نظاماً عرفياً يحدّد مبادئ والتزامات العقد الاجتماعي والسلوك البشري في العلاقة مع النظم البيئية، وجرى الاعتراف بها وتأكيدها في مواثيق المؤتمرات الدولية بشأن التنمية المستدامة ومبادئ الاتفاقية الدولية للتنوع الحيوي. وتؤكد المادة (8) الصيانة في الوضع الطبيعي، من الاتفاقية على أن على كل طرف متعاقد، قدر الإمكان وحسب الاقتضاء وذلك وفقاً لما هو منصوص عليه في البند (ي) «القيام، رهناً بتشريعاته الوطنية، باحترام المعارف والابتكارات وممارسات المجتمعات الأصلية والمحلية التي تجسد … Continue reading →

دليل التسوق الأخضر

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مع قدوم شهركانون الأول، يتم التخطيط و التحضير للعديد من المناسبات والحفلات الموسمية على الصعيد العالمي. و يأتي مع هذه المناسبات نوع من التسوق المنفعل مما يؤدي إلى استخدام وهدر المزيد من الموارد. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، شهركانون الأول هو أيضا مشهور بهوس التسوق الذي يُسيطر على الأشخاص من مختلف مناحى الحياة “التسوق” هو بالتأكيد أحد أشهر ‘الرياضات في الأماكن المغلقة “يُمارس بالتساوي من قبل شعوب الدول المتقدمة والنامية إعتماداً على أسلوب حياتهم وميزانياتهم و تقوم به السيدات بنسبة أكبر. “التحول الأخضر” هو الطريق الجديد بالنسبة لنا جميعاً فهو عبارة عن تغيير نمط الحياة الى الأفضل بما في ذلك تحسين العادات الشرائية … Continue reading →

تحلل نفايات الإطارات

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يتم تجاهل عشرات الملايين من الإطارات في منطقة الشرق الأوسط كل عام . إن التخلص من نفايات الإطارات  مهمة صعبة لأن الإطارات لها عمر طويل وغير القابلة للتحلل . الطريقة التقليدية في إدارة نفايات الإطارات هي تخزينها أو إغراقها أو طمرها  غير القانوني، وكلها حلول قصيرة الأجل .الإطارات المخزونة توفر  أرضا خصبة مثالية لتكاثر البعوض، والحشرات والثعابين . بعض الحرائق المفاجئة او العرضية في مكبات الإطارات في إثارة إصدار الغازات السامة منها لأشهر . على سبيل المثال، شب حريق هائل  في الجهراء موقع تفريغ في الكويت في ابريل 2012 حيث تم تخزين أكثر من 5 ملايين من نفايات الإطارات . … Continue reading →

8 Eco-Friendly Ways to Wash Your Car

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How do you normally wash your car? Most of us will answer “the driveway” as the place where we normally wash our car. Washing our car in the free driveway might be one of the most harmful things we do to our environment. Like the other wastewater from our home, the car wash wastewater doesn’t go into the septic to get into treatment. The car wash wastewater from the driveway goes straight into the sewer or drains and gets mixed with the river or local pond without any wastewater treatment. This chemical car wash water pollutes the aquatic life and … Continue reading →

The Unending Benefits of Recycling

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Recycling is the process in which used or abandoned materials from our everyday waste is converted into new products. Items that can be recycled include; glass, paper, plastics and various metals.  The process of recycling involves waste segregation after collection, processing the recyclable waste and finally manufacturing products from the waste thus processed. Why Do We Need Recycling? Manufacturing products involves obtaining raw materials from various sources. Raw materials may be from forests or mines. They are then transported to the place of manufacture usually by land or sea, which is an energy consuming process. Procurement of raw materials and their … Continue reading →

7 Insights into Diamond Mining and its Environmental Impact

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To make diamond jewelry, the gems we covet need to be mined. This practice is not without its problems, especially from an environmental perspective. So with that in mind, let’s look at what consumers need to know about the mark that mining leaves on our planet, and the alternatives that are out there for anyone who wants to minimize their own carbon footprint. Unveiling the Glitter: The Diamond Mining Process Diamond mining is a process shrouded in mystery for many. It starts with prospecting, where geologists search for kimberlite pipes, which are ancient pathways of volcanic activity that have carried … Continue reading →

Egypt’s Water Crisis – Recipe for Disaster

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Egypt has been suffering from severe water scarcity in recent years. Uneven water distribution, misuse of water resources and inefficient irrigation techniques are some of the major factors playing havoc with water security in the country. Egypt has only 20 cubic meters per person of internal renewable freshwater resources, and as a result the country relies heavily on the Nile River for its main source of water. The River Nile is the backbone of Egypt’s industrial and agricultural sector and is the primary source of drinking water for the population. Rising populations and rapid economic development in the countries of … Continue reading →

Are Green Roofs a Viable Option for the Middle East?

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Urban green roofs have long been promoted as an easy and effective strategy for beautifying the built environment and increasing investment opportunity. The building roof is very important because it has a direct impact on thermal comfort and energy conservation in and around buildings. Urban green roofs can help to address the lack of green space in many urban areas. Urban green roofs provides the city with open spaces that helps reduce urban heat island effect and provides the human population on the site with a connection to the outdoors. However, we must differentiate between two types of urban green … Continue reading →

CDM Projects in MENA Region

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The MENA region is an attractive CDM destination as it is rich in renewable energy resources and has a robust oil and gas industry. Surprisingly, countries in MENA host very few and declining number of CDM projects with only 23 CDM projects registered till date. The region accounts for only 1.5 percent of global CDM projects and only two percent of emission reduction credits. The two main challenges facing many of these projects are: weak capacity in most MENA countries for identifying, developing and implementing carbon finance projects and securing underlying finance. The registered CDM projects in MENA countries are … Continue reading →

Restocking the Seas around Bahrain through Fish Farming

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The marine waters around Bahrain have been showing a decline in fish stock for several decades. But in the first decade of this millennium, restocking has become a routine practice endorsed by the former Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife (now the Supreme Council for the Environment). In recent years, the fishing industry in the Kingdom of Bahrain is starting to really look up with the restocking of the waters from farmed fish. Requirements of a Fish Farm Fish farming means growing fish in fixed enclosures (tanks, ponds or cages) exposed to the natural climatic conditions … Continue reading →

Green SMEs in Middle East: Obstacles and Challenges

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With ‘green’ being the buzzword across all industries, greening of the business sector and development of green skills has assumed greater importance all over the world, and Middle East is no exception. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in eco-design, green architecture, renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainability are spearheading the transition to green economy across a wide range of industries. Green SME sector in the Middle East has been growing steadily, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated. Regulations One of the major obstacles in the progress of green SMEs in the Middle East the has been poorly-designed regulation. According … Continue reading →