While global warnings of climate change and drought that will soon hit many countries around the world continue, and while millions of people think that they are far from that disaster, many Iraqis have begun to sense this imminent danger.
It has started Drought and water scarcity threaten millions of Iraqisand their agricultural lands.
horrific pictures
Horrific photos taken from different regions, whether in Dohuk (in the north) or Dhi Qar governorate in the south of the country, showed arid drought, thirsty soil, and receding rivers.
While many Iraqis circulated on the communication sites during the past hours these sad images, which raise the alarm.
An aerial view showing the submerged remains of the village of Gari Kesrouka, which was abandoned in 1985 and partially re-emerged following a significant drop in the water level in the Dohuk Dam due to drought, in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk (AFP)
Aerial photography near the Dohuk Dam also showed the remains of the village of Gari Kesrouka, which recently reappeared partially submerged in water, following a significant drop in the level of the dam due to drought, following it was abandoned in 1985, according to Agence France-Presse.
Drought has worsened in more than 70 villages in southern Iraq amid a hot summer without water.
The significant decrease in the waters of the Euphrates River caused the drying up of some of its tributaries and depriving a third of Al-Diwaniyah Governorate in the south of enough water for daily use, while twenty water purification plants stopped working, according to local officials.
From Dhi Qar, southern Iraq (AFP)
Meanwhile, many residents in those villages are waiting for the governorate’s water tanks to pass through, once or twice a week, to provide them with something that makes up for the little shortage they suffer from.
The five most affected countries in the world
It is noteworthy that, due to the continuous rise in temperatures and the increasing shortage of water from year to year, Iraq has become among the five most vulnerable countries in the world to the effects of climate change, according to the United Nations.
Mesopotamia recently faced a significant drop in the water level of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which the Iraqi authorities attribute to dams built by Iran and Turkey.
A shocking picture of drought and desertification in Iraq (AFP)
While the Euphrates River is still flowing and crossing Diwaniyah, some of the “sub-rivers that suffer from drought have dwindled terribly, which has negatively affected dozens of villages,” explained the Director of the Water Department in Diwaniyah, Engineer Hassan Naim.
In addition, “climate migration has become a reality in the country,” according to a report by the International Organization for Migration published in August.
(AFP)
Until March 2022, more than 3,300 families were displaced due to “climatic factors” in ten governorates in the center and south, and the reason was “water scarcity, high salinity, or poor water quality.”
The lack of water has also hampered or spoiled crop production, reduced the availability of drinking water and food for livestock, and forced many agricultural-related businesses to close.
Drought in Iraq (AFP)
