UNICEF Innocenti's Report Card 17 explores how 43 OECD/EU countries are faring in providing healthy environments for children. Beyond children’s immediate environments, over-consumption in some of the world’s richest countries is destroying children’s environments globally. This threatens both children worldwide and future generations. To provide all children with safe and …
Babies born in Haifa's most polluted areas have smaller heads, study claims Experts slam 'panic-inducing' reports into health study on Haifa babies Israeli Health Ministry disputes claim that Haifa pollution damaging infants The Health Ministry on Wednesday released the figures showing that the heads of newborns from the Haifa region …
“We stand by the study. The methods used were approved by a professional committee that included representatives from the Environment Ministry and the Health Ministry,” a statement from the university said. According to the study, babies were born with smaller heads and weighed less than average in three focal points …
The Haifa Municipality and the Health Ministry kept their distance on Monday from preliminary results of a University of Haifa study indicating that exposure of pregnant women in the Haifa area to pollution from the petrochemical industry caused their babies to be born with heads 20 to 30 percent smaller …
Symptoms of pollution-related disorders include smaller-than-average heads and relatively low weight, in addition to the high rates of cancer identified in previous studies, Channel 2 News reported Sunday. The Haifa Bay is home to oil refineries, power plants, manufacturers of chemicals and metals and a major port, all of which …
Israel’s economy has fundamental strengths, as well as high levels of poverty and inequality, according to the latest Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reports on Israel, released Sunday. While Israel ranks poorly compared to OECD averages in areas such as poverty, housing and air quality, it places among the …
The Israeli government has donated items worth Sh1 million to more than 1,000 families affected by floods in Migori county. The Israeli and Kenyan governments have hinted at starting programmes to increase food security in the region. Israeli Ambassador Yahel Vilan on Monday donated three bulls, 100 bags of maize, …
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill on Sunday designed to regulate the renewable energy sector in Israel while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating new jobs in the industry. The bill, proposed by MK Eitan Broshi (Zionist Union), calls for setting national targets for producing electricity from renewable …
Stormy weather is expected over the next two days, with strong winds, rain and dust storms, according to the Meteo-tech meteorological service. The south of the country began experiencing the stormy weather on Tuesday night and it is expected to extend to the rest of the country overnight. Much of …
High levels of air pollution engulfed the entire country Tuesday evening as a strong southeasterly wind flow caused a dust transport to Israel from Saudi Arabia and Jordan. With the dust levels expected to remain high through Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Ministry advised all sensitive population members, including those with …
Three of the world’s 50 biggest active garbage dumps are in the Gaza Strip, an indication of the poor conditions in the territory. There is one site near Dir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, and a second near Rafah, in the southern Strip near the Egyptian border. The biggest …
The Environmental Protection Ministry last week appealed to the Haifa District Court against a lower court’s ruling that cleared the Haifa Port Company of charges of marine pollution. According to the ministry, the company’s argument in the lower court that a conviction would severely damage its image and have economic …
The Environmental Protection Ministry recently completed its recommendation to the government for a target in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which Israel will present at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November. The target includes a significant increase in the use of renewable energies. A master plan …
The Knesset is an imposing rectangular building standing at the top of a hill from where it looms over one side of Jerusalem. Despite the blinding summer sun, the tapestries by Marc Chagall decorating the entrance of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, are awash in a far gentler, natural light. The …
Jerusalem recorded its worst air pollution levels ever, at 173 times normal levels. In some other parts of the country, air pollution levels were at their worst for 75 years. Israel’s emergency medical service Magen David Adom reported that 340 Israelis received medical treatment as a result of the weather, …
A heavy sandstorm swept across parts of the Middle East on Tuesday, killing two people and hospitalising hundreds in Lebanon and disrupting fighting and air strikes in neighbouring Syria. Clouds of dust also engulfed Israel, Jordan and Cyprus where aircraft were diverted to Paphos from Larnaca airport as visibility fell …
At its weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, the government approved a plan to reduce air pollution in the Haifa Bay area up to half by 2018. The plan was submitted by Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbay, together with the ministers of finance, transportation and health. The plan will cost 115 million …
Despite a steady decrease in emissions since 2002, transportation remained the most significant air pollution source in the urban centers throughout 2014, the Environmental Protection Ministry revealed on Wednesday. The ministry published its findings in its 2014 Air Quality Report, drawing data from more than 100 air quality monitoring stations …
London, Paris, New York, Copenhagen and Tel Aviv and other cities around the world have all in recent years developed bicycle share systems to ease up congestion, reduce air pollution and promote exercise. Now, it seems, Jerusalem is looking to get in on the pedal-powered action as well. To this …
But there is plenty of water stress going on in the world right now — such as in California, where earlier this month desperate officials dumped 20,000 black plastic balls into a Los Angeles reservoir to prevent further water losses due to evaporation in the devastating five-year-long drought. The balls …
Rising population and dwindling water supplies will affect millions of people and exacerbate conflict in the region Water supplies across the Middle East will deteriorate over 25 years, threatening economic growth and national security and forcing more people to move to already overcrowded cities, a new analysis suggests. As the …
