Israeli-Palestinian Cooperation on Air Pollution Study
(March 2005)
Within the framework of a unique project of cooperation between the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem and Palestinian research organizations, two engineers of the Palestinian Meteorological Service have come to the university for training and advanced study. This was the first time in many months that this has been possible.
Prof. Menachem Luria and Dr. Daniel Pederson of the Institute of Earth Sciences, together with a team from the university’s air quality research laboratory, are this week instructing the professional staff of the Palestinian Meteorological Service in operating equipment to measure air pollution. The equipment was purchased by the Hebrew University with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in order to enable the project of scientific cooperation.
The purpose of the project is to
include in the Israel data base on air pollution
the data on air pollution in the Gaza Strip because
of the mutual influence of Israel and Gaza on each
other. According to Prof. Luria, “Most of the air
pollutants are released along the Mediterranean coast,
since it is there that the most intensive economic
activity is to be found, from the north of Israel
to the Gaza
Strip. The pollutant which are released
along the coast are carried inwards to the West
Bank,
the mountainous region and Jordan, so that there
is a movement of pollution from Tel
Aviv to the West
Bank and in addition from the Gaza Strip to Israel.”
The advantage in the cooperation
is that when the national system for control of air
pollution receives data from the Gaza Strip and the
West Bank, the measurements will be more thorough
and more exact than at present and will serve both
sides, said Luria.
According to the two participating engineers, Ali Hassan abu Eid and Akram
Salim el Akras, of the Palestinian Meteorological Service in Gaza, “This
new equipment, not yet available in Gaza, will help us to examine the
level of air pollution so that we can work for better environmental
quality. We hope for additional cooperation between the Authority
and Israel.”
Sources: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |