The Elephant
A resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
The ElephantA resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
Diplomats fear growing power of Iranian factions that want nuclear weapons
2024-03-10 in The GuardianWarnings that war in Gaza and Iran’s lack of cooperation on its nuclear programme are strengthening hand of hardliners
Tagged under: Israel | Iran | Nuclear Power | Middle East | Africa
Weather tracker: Flash flooding in Oman and record temperatures in Western Australia
2024-02-16 in The GuardianFour people died after heavy rain in the Middle Eastern country, which is one of the driest in the world
Tagged under: Extreme Heat | Extreme Rainfall | Extreme Weather | Middle East
‘They attacked us. They displaced us’: grieving South Sudanese confront Swedish oil giant over their days of slaughter
2023-12-31 in The GuardianA historic trial, which will call on 61 witnesses worldwide, is expected to set a precedent for global corporations in foreign jurisdictions
Tagged under: Middle East | Africa
US joins in other nations in swearing off coal power to clean the climate
2023-12-02 in Associated Press NewsThe United States is now committed to the idea of phasing out coal power plants, joining 56 other nations in kicking the coal habit. Saturday's announcement by U.S.
Tagged under: COP28 | US Politics | USA | Coal | Electricity | Middle East | Renewable Energy
Will the Globe Encounter the Warmest Winter after the Hottest Summer in 2023? - Advances in Atmospheric Sciences
2023-12-01 in Springer VerlagIn the boreal summer and autumn of 2023, the globe experienced an extremely hot period across both oceans and continents. The consecutive record-breaking mean surface temperature has caused many to speculate upon how the global temperature will evolve in the coming 2023/24 boreal winter. In this report, as shown in the multi-model ensemble mean (MME) prediction released by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a medium-to-strong eastern Pacific El Niño event will reach its mature phase in the following 2–3 months, which tends to excite an anomalous anticyclone over the western Nort...
Tagged under: Oceans | Global Warming | El Niño | Middle East
Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s grand plan to ‘hook’ poor countries on oil
2023-11-27 in The GuardianClimate scientists say fossil fuel use needs to fall rapidly – but oil-rich kingdom is working to drive up demand
Tagged under: COP28 | Fossil Fuels | Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Africa
‘The river took it all’: Somalis wait for waters to recede as floods kill dozens
2023-11-22 in The GuardianBilan reporters describe devastation across Somalia as ‘once-in-a-century’ floods hit a country reeling from a six-year drought
Tagged under: Drought | Rivers | Middle East | Africa
‘Tax Cheat Twelve’ Vote to Cut IRS Funding in Israel Bill
2023-11-04 (or before) by David Dayen in The American ProspectThe 12 House Democrats received a combined $8 million in campaign support from AIPAC and its affiliates last year.
Tagged under: US Politics | Israel | Middle East | Finance
POLITICO Pro
2023-10-04 (or before) in Politico PROA new facility may be on the horizon for Texas-based Occidental Petroleum and a company in the United Arab Emirates.
Tagged under: Texas | Middle East
Japanese scientists find microplastics are present in clouds | Environment News | Al Jazeera
2023-09-29 (or before) in Al JazeeraJapanese scientists have found between 6.7 and 13.9 pieces of microplastic in each litre of cloud water tested.
Tagged under: Microplastics and Nanoplastics | Middle East | Japan
As World’s Problems Grow More Challenging, UN Chief Gets Bleaker
2023-09-25 (or before) by in VOA - Voice of America English NewsSecretary-General Antonio Guterres’ assessment, delivered in his no-nonsense style, aimed to shock
Tagged under: Africa | Middle East
Climate action must respond to extreme weather driving health crisis, says WHO
2023-09-19 in The GuardianMelting ice caps and rising sea levels are urgent but people care more about the floods, wildfires and droughts that are here now, New York summit hears
Tagged under: COP28 | Libya | Drought | Africa | Ice Melting | Sea Level | Health | Middle East | Wildfires
‘Disastrous beyond comprehension’: 10,000 missing after Libya floods
2023-09-12 in The GuardianNeighbourhoods washed away in port city of Derna, where two dams burst, with many bodies swept out to sea
Tagged under: Libya | Africa | Middle East
Iran shuts down for two days because of 'unprecedented heat' | Reuters
2023-08-04 (or before) in ReutersIran has announced Wednesday and Thursday this week will be public holidays because of "unprecedented heat" and told the elderly and people with health conditions to stay indoors, Iranian state media reported.
Tagged under: Health | Middle East | Iran
Army of fake social media accounts defend UAE presidency of climate summit
2023-06-08 in The GuardianSultan Al Jaber – Cop28 president and CEO of state oil firm – is ‘ally the climate movement needs’, posts say
Tagged under: COP28 | Africa | Middle East
Aras Amiri highlights jailed Iran environmentalists' plight - BBC News
2023-06-01 (or before) in The BBCA former prisoner held for years in the same jail as the group tells the BBC of their plight.
Tagged under: Middle East | Iran
Deloitte research reveals inaction on climate change could cost the world’s economy US$178 trillion by 2070 | Deloitte Middle East | Press release
2023-05-30 (or before) in Deloitte UK | Audit, Consulting, Financial Advisory and Tax servicesDeloitte’s Global Turning Point Report finds that unchecked climate change could cost the global economy US$178 trillion over the next 50 years, unless global leaders unite in a systemic net-zero transition
Tagged under: Climate Change | Net Zero | Middle East
Rapidly increasing likelihood of exceeding 50 °C in parts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East due to human influence - npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
2023-05-30 (or before) in NatureAs the world warms, extremely hot days are becoming more frequent and intense, reaching unprecedented temperatures associated with excess mortality. Here, we assess how anthropogenic forcings affect the likelihood of maximum daily temperatures above 50 °C at 12 selected locations around the Mediterranean and the Middle East. We adopt a risk-based attribution methodology that utilises climate model simulations with and without human influence to estimate the probability of extremes. We find that at all locations, temperatures above 50 °C would have been extremely rare or impossible in the pre-industrial worl...
Tagged under: Climate Change | Middle East
‘No one saw this level of devastation coming’: climate crisis worsens in Somalia
2023-05-19 in The GuardianTorrential rain, coming on top of the country’s worst drought in four decades, has forced 250,000 people to leave their homes
Tagged under: Drought | Africa | Middle East
‘The city was underwater’: quarter of a million Somalis flee flooded homes
2023-05-17 in The GuardianClimate crisis a key factor in flash flooding of Beledweyne as rains end drought and Shabelle River breaks its banks
Tagged under: Drought | Africa | Rivers | Middle East
Conflict and climate disasters combine to create record rise in displaced people
2023-05-11 in The GuardianUkraine war and Pakistan’s ‘monsoon on steroids’ among events driving surge on ‘scale never seen before’ as 71m people displaced
Tagged under: Conflict | Africa | Middle East
Column: Middle East starts cleaning up its power act with renewable push | Reuters
2023-04-07 (or before) in ReutersThe Middle East has by far the lowest share of clean power in its electricity mix of all regions, but is starting to change that through hefty increases in renewable energy generation capacity.
Tagged under: Renewable Energy | Electricity | Middle East
Revealed: UAE plans huge oil and gas expansion as it hosts UN climate summit
2023-04-04 in The GuardianExclusive: UAE’s fossil fuel boss will be the president of Cop28, making a mockery of the summit, say campaigners
Tagged under: COP28 | Africa | Fossil Fuels | Middle East
As the disturbing scenes in Tunisia show, anti-migrant sentiments have gone global | Nesrine Malik
2023-03-13 in The GuardianPresident Saied is scapegoating his country’s small black migrant population to distract from political failings. Does this sound familiar, asks Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
Tagged under: Africa | Middle East
Aramco: Saudi state-owned oil giant sees record profit of $161bn - BBC News
2023-03-12 (or before) in The BBCAfter a year when petrol prices soared, the Saudi firm announces a best-ever set of figures.
Tagged under: Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Aramco
Let’s face reality. Fossil fuel interests have destroyed the Cops – we need something new | Bill McGuire
2023-01-16 in The GuardianIt beggars belief that the UN thought it a good idea to allow an authoritarian petro-state to host the already compromised summit, says Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of climate hazards
Tagged under: COP28 | Africa | Middle East
COP28: Why has an oil boss been chosen to head climate summit? - BBC News
2023-01-14 (or before) in The BBCThe UAE has named state oil company chief Sultan Al Jaber as president of the UN climate conference.
Tagged under: COP28 | Middle East
‘False solutions’: scepticism over Saudi carbon capture plan
2022-11-19 in The GuardianKingdom’s Cop27 announcement of new storage hub part of pattern of delaying fossil fuel transition, experts say
Tagged under: COP27 | Africa | Fossil Fuels | Middle East | Saudi Arabia
‘It turns out that a sandstorm is not the same wherever it happens’
2022-11-16 in The GuardianStark difference in experience of sandstorms in Cairo and Dubai raises questions as climate crisis deepens
Tagged under: Africa | Middle East
Cop27 host Egypt warns UK not to backtrack from climate agenda
2022-10-03 in The GuardianUnusual diplomatic intervention prompted by fears over Liz Truss’s commitment to net zero
Tagged under: COP27 | Africa | Net Zero | Middle East
Several arrests at protest over dying Iranian lake - BBC News
2022-07-17 (or before) in The BBCOnce the world's second largest salt lake, farming and drought have reduced Lake Urmia to a trickle.
Tagged under: Farming | Drought | Middle East | Iran
‘Apocalyptic skies’: the dust storms devastating Gulf states and Syria
2022-06-03 in The GuardianRising frequency of storms due to climate crisis is causing more loss of life and more destruction, say experts
Tagged under: Africa | Middle East | Saudi Arabia
UN climate report: 'Atlas of human suffering' worse, bigger | AP News
2022-02-28 (or before) in Associated Press NewsDeadly with extreme weather now, climate change is about to get so much worse. It is likely going to make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier and way more dangerous in the next 18 years with an “unavoidable” increase in risks, a new United Nations science report says.
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Africa | Climate Change | Middle East
Monitoring Soil Health in the Middle East from Space | 4 Earth Intelligence
2022-02-08 (or before) in Applied Earth Intelligence Experts | 4 Earth IntelligenceTagged under: Climate Change | Health | Middle East
OPEC official hits at 'misguided' efforts to pare oil and gas | Reuters
2021-12-22 (or before) in ReutersTagged under: Fossil Fuels | Middle East
‘Apocalypse soon’: reluctant Middle East forced to open eyes to climate crisis | Climate crisis | The Guardian
2021-10-31 (or before) in The GuardianTagged under: Middle East
Opec member urges oil producers to focus more on renewable energy
2021-09-01 in The GuardianIraqi minister and International Energy Agency chief urge countries to move away from fossil fuel dependency
Tagged under: Renewable Energy | Africa | Fossil Fuels | Middle East
Without help for oil-producing countries, net zero by 2050 is a distant dream | Ali Allawi and Fatih Birol
2021-09-01 in The GuardianTo meet climate targets and avoid economic collapse, countries such as Iraq need international support in the transition to clean energy, say Iraq’s deputy PM Ali Allawi and IEA executive director Fatih Birol
Tagged under: Greenhouse Gases | Africa | Fossil Fuels | Net Zero | Middle East | Collapse
From 1m trees to a tree graveyard: how Dubai’s conservation plans went awry
2021-08-24 in The GuardianHundreds of thousands of trees have died after costly real estate projects thwarted attempts to halt desertification
Tagged under: Africa | Middle East | Trees
Ignoring climate change will lead to unprecedented, societally disruptive heat extremes in the Middle East
2021-03-26 (or before) in Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and TechnologyThe Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) is a climate change hot spot where summers warm much faster than in the rest of the world. Some parts of the region are already among the hottest locations globally. A new international study led by scientists from the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center of the Cyprus Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry predicts that ignoring the signals of climate change and continuing business as usual with increasing greenhouse gas emissions will lead to extreme, life-threatening heatwaves in the region. Such extraordinary heat events will have a severe impact on the people of...
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Heatwaves | Greenhouse Gases | Africa | Predictions | Climate Change | Middle East
Climate-exodus expected in the Middle East and North Africa
2020-06-07 (or before) in mpg.deClimate change could lead to more climate refugees from the Middle East and North Africa according to calculations by a team of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, led by J. Lelieveld.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Africa | Middle East
Locust crisis poses a danger to millions, forecasters warn
2020-03-20 in The GuardianExperts fear swarms like those seen in Africa will become more common as tropical storms create favourable breeding conditions
Tagged under: Africa | Conflict | Middle East
Water-related violence rises globally in past decade
2019-12-31 in The GuardianWater shortages and extreme weather contribute to tension in Middle East and India
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Middle East
Lebanon heads for meltdown as protesters keep returning to streets
2019-12-25 in The GuardianPower of the street has run headlong into a system invested in entrenched graft and incompetence
Tagged under: Africa | Middle East
Banks warned over Saudi Aramco by environmental groups
2019-10-17 in The GuardianTen green groups send letter to express concern over planned market float
Tagged under: Africa | Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Aramco
Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions
2019-10-09 in The GuardianNew data shows how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers
Tagged under: BP | Shell | Exxon | Greenhouse Gases | Coal | Africa | Chevron | Fossil Fuels | Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Aramco
Third of Earth's soil is acutely degraded due to agriculture
2017-09-12 in The GuardianFertile soil is being lost at rate of 24bn tonnes a year through intensive farming as demand for food increases, says UN-backed study
Tagged under: Farming | Africa | Middle East
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