Tag: middle east

Global Warming and the War in Syria

Reds and oranges highlight lands around the Mediterranean that experienced significantly drier winters during 1971-2010 than the comparison period of 1902-2010. Credit NOAA.
Reds and oranges highlight lands around the Mediterranean that experienced significantly drier winters during 1971-2010 than the comparison period of 1902-2010. Credit NOAA.

A 2011 article from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration linked recent severe droughts in the Mediterranean to anthropogenic climate change. Now Francesco Femia and Caitlin Werrell assert that the drought (and agricultural mismanagement) lead to the displacement of a million and a half people in Syria, which helped spark the current civil war.

Additional links:

ᔥ The Dish

Recipes for revolution

The Economist has come up with a neat little flash app that combines all the ingredients to see which Arab countries are ripest for revolution. They call it their “Shoe Thrower’s Index”.

We’ve seen how a combination of demographics (lots of young people), an educated middle class, and protests might lead to revolutions (which still often come as a surprise). With The Economist’s table you get to choose which factors you think are most important.

Move the slider bars on the right to set the “weight” of each indicator of revolution to what you think is most important, and the chart on the left will adjust itself to show which countries are more likely to have a revolution based on your parameters.

(found via The Dish)

The Muslim Scientific Legacy

With recent hopes of democracy and a new renaissance of the Islamic world, it’s perhaps appropriate to look back at the contributions that came from Muslim lands. This includes works in the fields of optics, ecology, engineering, algebra, mostly done in the years between 800 and 1250 A.D.. David Beillo has a wonderful slideshow in Scientific American.

In 1647, when Johannes Hevelius published his treatise on the moon, he placed Muslim scientist Alhazen on the frontpiece (left) to represent reason. (Image by Jeremias Falck via Wikimedia Commons).

Protesters’ uniform

Part of an Egyptian pamphlet created as a guide to protesters. Image links to the original, Arabic version.

This guide for the modern protester was created, in Arabic, as part of a guide for the for the protesters in Egypt. It’s amazing just how much it tells, not just about the protesters, but about the people and equipment, as well as their goals. I particularly like that, next to the scarf to protect from tear gas, and the pot lid to defend against rubber bullets and battons, there is also a rose:

A rose so we can show that we can do as we ought to and join together in the most peaceful way possible.http://montessorimuddle.org/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=3932&type=image&TB_iframe=1&width=640&height=578
— Unknown author (2011). Translated from the Egyptian protest pamphlet

The Guardian also has another picture from the pamphlet in an article that really tells a lot about the authors’ objectives.

Potential protesters from Egyptian leaflet.

(Via the Daily Dish)

Islands of peace in a revolution

From the Guardian’s live feed of the uprising in Egypt:

A protester approaches the police to organize a cease-fire for the evening prayer. (Screengrab from Al Jezeera via The Guardian)
Prayer as protest (via The Daily Dish)

And who are the police? Who’s side are they on?

An Egyptian anti-government activist kisses a riot police officer following clashes in Cairo. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP (via The Guardian live updates)

It reminds me of this picture from the protests last November in London over university tuition increases:

Schoolgirls join hands to peacefully stop attacks on a police van during student protests in London. Photograph: Demotix/Peter Marshall (via The Guardian)

So some questions:

  • What would it take for you to go out and protest (have you done it before)?
  • What would you do under these circumstances?