Bid to monitor emissions:

A new Cyprus-based project aims to fill a research gap on greenhouse gas emissions in the east Mediterranean and Middle East in order to help policy makers seeking to tackle climate change in the vulnerable region, officials said Tuesday.

Coordinator Jean Sciare said the project launch that a key goal will be to build in Cyprus one of Europe’s biggest environmental observation posts to monitor the Middle East that experts say is growing hotter and drier and will in three years produce more greenhouse gases than the European Union.

The Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate and Atmosphere Research Center will bring together more than a dozen top scientists from six countries and