Category Archives: Climate Change

Battling Climate Change: How You Can Help?

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After abusing and depleting the Earth’s resources for hundreds of years, we are now faced with the harsh reality of climate change. The planet’s temperature is slowly rising and causing more erratic weather conditions with this last decade being the hottest on record. The time to act is now. Two artists have tried to communicate the urgency of this message by installing a ‘climate clock’ in Manhattan’s Union Square. This countdown warns that if our current greenhouse gas emissions do not slow down before the deadline, the damage we will have done will be irreversible. Given the looming window of … Continue reading →

Why Giving Up Meat Is Essential To Mitigate Climate Change

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Meat consumption is a staple of the modern diet. In the developed world, meat consumption has been rising consistently for decades. In the developing world, people eat less meat as they cannot afford the high cost of it. The scale of global meat consumption has grave environmental effects and intensifies Climate Change. This is as, “the global production of food is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases emitted by human activity” [1]. Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that the connection between meat consumption and the negative effects of Climate Change like global warming is something which needs … Continue reading →

15 Inspirational Quotes On The Environment

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With the New Year’s upon us, global citizens are beginning to think about their goals and what they want to accomplish in 2023. Many people focus on their finances, while others may be thinking about their health and relationships, students are more likely to think, “who could help with my homework” or “how to get a good grade”. Yet there is still one relationship that many people have forgotten: our relationship with Earth. In May of 2006, the film “An Inconvenient Truth” was released and for the first time in a long time, our environmental needs and causes was on … Continue reading →

Energy Efficiency Perspectives for MENA

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MENA countries are facing an increasing challenge in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia figure among the world’s top-10 per capita carbon emitters. In case of business-as-usual scenario, GHGs emissions from the energy sector will continue to rise throughout the region. According to a recent report by International Energy Agency (IEA), energy intensity demand in MENA is mainly driven by population and economic growth and reliance of heavy industries on generous energy subsidy. It is projected that primary energy demand in the region will be doubled by 2030 and the region’s … Continue reading →

آثار تغير المناخ البشري المنشأ على النظم البيئية المختلفة

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تظهر الأدلة العلمية أن تغير المناخ البشري المنشأ حقيقة ملموسة, حيث أنه يؤثر على مجموعة واسعة من أنواع الكائنات الحية وجيناتها وموائلها الطبيعية ﻭﺘﺸﻜﻴل ﻤﺠﺘﻤﻌﺎتها- بإختصار :على التنوع الحيوي .إن تسارع وتيرة التنمية البشرية لها تأثير واضح وكبيرعلى التنوع الحيوي , فمن المهم إدراك حقيقة أن الأنشطة البشرية في خلال القرنين الماضيين ومنها حرق الوقود الأحفوري هي السبب الرئيسي للتغيرات المناخية الحالية والتي تهدد التنوع الحيوي والخدمات التي تقدمها النظم البيئية .هنالك حاجة ملحة لفهم كيف يؤثر تغير المناخ على النظم  البيئية المختلفة وكيفية إرتباطه بالتنوع الحيوي إرتباطاً وثيقاً ؛حيث يعتبر تغير المناخ سبباً في وتأثيراً في نفس الوقت على … Continue reading →

Climate Change Impacts in the Levant

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Many countries in the Levant — such as Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria — are afflicted by water scarcity, weak institutional and governmental resource management, high food import dependency and fragile economies – all coupled with increasing populations and demand. According to the recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Arab World will be witnessing hotter and drier conditions with extensive droughts causing severe water shortages that will have dire impacts on agriculture and livelihood. Farmers in the Levant have been addressing climate change adaptation and resilience issues through farming, water management and environmental degradation. Global climate … Continue reading →

Understanding Carbon Footprint

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With rising awareness of global warming and effects of emissions on the environment, corporates and individuals alike are rising to tackle environmental issues. Carbon footprinting, the first step to reduce carbon emissions, is the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product. The main reason for calculating a carbon footprint is to inform decisions on how to reduce the climate change impact of a company, service or product. Carbon footprints are measured by undertaking a greenhouse gas assessment. Once the size of a carbon footprint is known, a strategy can be … Continue reading →

التصدي لأثار التغيرات المناخية بالمغرب

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يبدو أن الرجوع إلى فترة ما قبل الثورة الصناعية سيصبح شيئا حتميا لا مناص منه ان نحن أردنا أن ننقذ أنفسنا و أرضنا من عواقب الأزمات البيئية بسبب ما يسمى بالتغيرات المناخية. و لقد فطنت و تيقنت العديد من الدول إلى هذا الخطر الداهم و من بينهم المغرب الذي انخرط في مساعي الحد من التأثيرات المناخية بشكل ملحوظ رسميا و فعليا من خلال عدة مشاريع وطنية كمخططات المغرب الأخضر للنهوض بالقطاع ألفلاحي و سياسات النجاعة الطاقية كمشاريع إنتاج الطاقات المتجددة. و قد أصبح البلد بهذا رائدا في هذا المجال عربيا و إفريقيا. و تتجسد هذه الريادة كذلك من خلال استضافة … Continue reading →

Key Questions about COP21 Climate Agreement

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The headlines from the CO21 Climate Summit tell an inspiring story. Agence France-Presse reported an outbreak of “euphoria” as the international climate accord was sealed. Reuters hailed a global “turn from fossil fuels.” The Guardian headlined “a major leap for mankind.” As the euphoria of delegates at the UN climate talks in Paris fades, it is time to get down to the business of saving the planet and ask what it means for me. This time, they were. They managed to seal a pact that sets a surprisingly ambitious target for limiting global warming, reflects the vast differences between countries … Continue reading →

Renewable Energy in World’s Top-10 Oil Producing Countries

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In April 2019, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló signed a bill that aims to power the island totally through renewable energy by 2050. It also aims to completely give up coal by 2028. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States of America, which is today the world’s largest oil producing country. This begs the question, what are the world’s top 10 oil producers doing to increase energy from renewable sources? First, let us have a look at how much oil these countries produced in 2017, which was the latest data available at the time of writing this article. … Continue reading →

الشرق الأوسط يستعد لمواجهة الاحتباس الحراري وسوق الكربون

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تعد منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا من أكثر المناطق عرضة للتغير المناخي، بسبب ندرة المياه، والاعتماد الكبير على الزراعة الحساسة للمناخ، وتركيز السكان والنشاط الاقتصادي في المناطق الساحلية الحضرية، ووجود المناطق المتضررة من النزاع. وعلاوة على ذلك، فإن المنطقة هي واحدة من أكبر المساهمين في انبعاثات الغازات المسببة للاحتباس الحراري وذلك بسبب ازدهار اقتصاد النفط والغاز فيها. وقد تسبب اعتماد العالم على موارد الطاقة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط في الحصول على أكبر معدلات آثار الكربون للفرد الواحد في جميع أنحاء العالم. وليس من المفاجىء أن تكون انبعاثات الكربون في دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة ما يقرب من 55 طن للفرد الواحد، أكثر من … Continue reading →

The Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in MENA

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Freshwater shortage in the MENA region is posing a serious threat to economic growth, social cohesion, peace and political stability. Furthermore, today’s freshwater usage does not account for its present and future availability but rather is based on sectoral and geographical competing consumption needs. To make matters worse, this already dire situation is being exacerbated by the rapidly changing climate. Climate change affects water resources by its profound impact on water quantity, variability, timing, form, and intensity of precipitation. The MENA region, in particular, is highly vulnerable to the disruptive climate change effects because countries within this region are unarguably … Continue reading →