Lolo in Jordan

Lolo, a black jaguar, plays with Ward, her 14-month-old spotted cub, inside their enclosure at the zoo in Amman, Jordan (Ali Jarekji/Reuters via CSMonitor).

Jordan'sTank Reef

A tank sunk by the Jordanian government into the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea as an artificial reef for sea life and a tourist attraction for snorkelers and scuba divers (Dan Lundberg/CC BY-SA via In Focus - Original)

BETA K9 Shelter

Lebanese activist Elena opens the door of Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ' BETA ' charitable organisation K9 shelter for the dogs to go for a walk in the village of Monteverde east of Beirut on September 15, 2010. BETA has the only K9 shelter in Lebanon and it is the only one which has a non-kill policy in the Middle-East. The dogs picked up from the streets, or abused by their owners wait at the shelter for adoption. (Getty Images via Daylife)

Pakistan in Need

An aerial view shows the mudflow surrounding a house as floodwaters recede in some parts of the Rajanpur district of Punjab province, Pakistan on Sunday Sept. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila

via The Big Picture)

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• Pakistan Floods from Space

Pakistan Floods from Space

The above images were captured over a 50-day flooding period in Pakistan. The first image, from July 19, shows the Indus River (blue), irrigated lands (green), and bare lands (pink), all before the flooding became apparent. In the second image, from August 11, the river has swollen significantly. By the time the third image was captured on September 7, the Indus had split and created a parallel river of comparable width.

Flooding has so far destroyed 8.9 million acres of Pakistani farmland. Over 1700 people have died and millions have been displaced. (via The Atlantic)

Top Five Lebanon Environmental Risks

An article worth reading in full (including all relevant links) from IRIN:

Lebanon faces a number of environmental threats, including air and water pollution, risks associated with climate change, and the impact of the 2006 war with Israel.

The Mediterranean

Habitat destruction is putting Lebanon’s fishing industry, which according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) accounts for around 6,500 jobs, at risk of collapse if part of Lebanese waters are not designated protected zones in the near future, according to a new Greenpeace report A Network of Marine Reserves In The Coastal Waters of Lebanon.

Greenpeace says 18 designated marine nursery reserves should be created along the Lebanese coastline to replenish endangered fish populations which have been in decline for three decades.

With the prospect of offshore oil and gas exploration (approved by the Lebanese parliament in a new law), Greenpeace warns that “Lebanese coastal waters are also at high risk of accidental spills if exploitation of underwater marine petroleum oil reserves develops in Lebanon.”

Air Pollution

Scientists are warning that pollutants in Beirut’s air have reached concentration levels so high as to become toxic for human health.

Long-term exposure at levels of concentration exceeding 40 micrograms per square metre, according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards, may decrease lung function and increase the risk of respiratory symptoms in humans. According to WHO, levels should be below 20 micrograms per cubic metre to prevent ill health.

While the Mediterranean climate and stagnant air may “trap” toxic gases, the report suggests that 52 percent of the air pollution is from vehicles. Residents of Beirut on average own 2.6 cars.

Climate change

Climate-dependent sectors of the economy in Lebanon such as agriculture and tourism could be affected, according to the 2009 report Rising Temperatures, Rising Tensions, by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

With 60 percent of Lebanon’s economic activity taking place in a narrow coastal strip along the Mediterranean, it could be susceptible to flooding and erosion as sea levels are predicted to rise. Climate change could also close off previously viable economic activities such as the export of water intensive crops.

Water

Lebanon is the least water scarce country in the Middle East with an annual average rainfall exceeding 800 million cubic metres (mcm), which helps sustain more than 2,000 springs during the seven-month dry season.

However, due to water shortages especially during the dry season the average household in some areas receives under 50 litres per day, which WHO says is the minimum to ensure a healthy environment. It is particularly urban centres, say scientists, that will experience water shortages. Over 80 percent of Lebanon’s population lives in urban areas.

According to experts, the number of rainy days has fallen from 80-90 a year on average 20 years ago to 70. The intensity of the rainfall has correspondingly gone up, meaning less of it seeps into the soil, and more of it runs along the ground, causing soil erosion, landslides, flash floods and ultimately desertification.

Lebanon gets 35 percent of its water from snow. With a rise in temperatures snowfall will decrease and the snowline will rise, according to surveys at the Regional Water and Environment Centre of Saint-Joseph University in Beirut.

War

During the July War of 2006, the largest environmental catastrophe was the bombing of Jiyeh power station causing 15,000 tons of oil to seep into the ocean and affecting 150km of the Lebanese coastline as well as parts of Syria’s coast.

According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) 2007 Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment report, “the environmental legacy of conflict is broadly similar with environmental and health issues linked to toxic or hazardous ashes, oils, heavy metals, industrial chemicals, rubble, solid waste and sewage. These may pose health risks to clean-up workers, local communities and at several sites have the potential to leak into water supplies unless sites are thoroughly decontaminated and the pollution contained.”

Related Post:

• BP Oil Disaster Over Lebanon

Abu Dhabi's High Tech Falcon Hospital

From CNN: 

...

The Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital claims to be the largest of its kind in the world, employing 52 people and treating around 5,000 birds each year.

...

"In the Middle East falconry has a different background. Even 70 years ago in the UAE most of the population were Bedouin living in the desert.

"It was hard to survive, so they used wild falcons to hunt meat. It wasn't a sport, it was a necessity for survival.

...

Muller said the hospital now treats all bird species and cares for falcons from all over the region, including Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. She said the owners are ordinary people who want the best for their birds.

The hospital has an array of high-tech equipment for treating sick birds, including an endoscopy unit that transmits live digital images to the waiting room, so the bird's owner can monitor the procedure.

...

"We can hospitalize more than 200 falcons at the same time, housed in individual rooms that have air conditioning. You can compare it to a hospital for humans, from the way it works to the equipment we have."

Hamad Al Ghanem regularly takes his falcons to the hospital for vaccinations and worming.

As a breeder of traditional saluki hunting dogs, and director of Abu Dhabi's Arabian Saluki Center, he is dedicated to keeping the country's cultural traditions alive. He is also a lifelong falconry enthusiast and owns about 35 falcons of his own.

...

He told CNN that one of the historic reasons why falconry is so popular in the UAE is that several species of falcon migrate across the area in the late summer and autumn.

In the past, falconers would trap the wild falcons, train them, hunt with them, and release them. These days, falcons are captive bred and owned for many years.

...

Ghanem says most Emirati families still keep falcons, although according to official figures there are about 5,000 falconers in the UAE. Falcons can cost between $5,000 and $80,000, depending on the bird's breed, sex, color and pedigree, he added.

Ghanem trains his falcons to hunt using live pigeons or ducks. Hunting is not permitted in the UAE, so falconers take their birds on hunting trips to countries such as Pakistan, Morocco and Sudan, where prey can include rabbit, Houbara bustard (a large bird), and even gazelle, he said.

...

BP Oil Disaster Over Lebanon

If It Was My Home (IIWMH) is a website with a relatively simple concept, it allows the user to visualize the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico over their own homes.

Of course in Lebanon, we're no strangers to the oil along our coasts:

A layer of crude oil covers the Ramlet el-Beida public beach in Beirut, Lebanon. Much of Lebanon's coastline is now awash with crude oil after an Israeli air strike on a power plant sent 15,000 tons (13,600 metric tons) of oil leaking into the Mediterranean. (via National Geographic News)

Then again, a site like IIWMH, and a visual graphic such as that above, really help put things in perspective: