After the Tigris River, which narrated the Garden of Eden, Sumer and Babylon throughout history, became struggling with death in Iraq, as a result of unjust human activity and climate change, videos spread on social media showing the extent of the danger.
In the country, which has a population of 42 million, and is considered a source of civilization and agriculture, the countless natural disasters are almost choking the breath of this river, as the clip, taken from an altitude, showed how the water was largely enchanted.
No more water pools
The Tigris River was affected by the decline of rains and the dams built in Turkey where the river originates, forcing residents to change their way of life.
As the pictures showed from the banks of the river, from the source in the north to the sea in the south, the water began to decrease day by day, following it was flowing in Seoul.
In some places, the river looked like puddles of rainwater. Where only small pools of water remained in the course of the Diyala River.
It is noteworthy that the Iraqi authorities and the farmers had accused the Kurds in Turkish Kurdistan of cutting off the water by holding it in the dams it established on the stream before it reached Iraq.
In turn, official statistics confirmed this accusation, as they showed that the level of the Tigris River upon its arrival from Turkey this year did not exceed 35% of the average amount that flowed into Iraq during the past 100 years.
From Al-Sinak Bridge, the features of the drought of the Tigris seem clear. We are approaching a major water crisis ???????? How many years do you expect or how many months if we want it to be optimistic and finish its water balance ???????? pic.twitter.com/UmjZcLE0d4
— swar hashem (@aswarhashem) September 18, 2022
International Warnings
It is reported that by the end of March 2022, more than 3,300 families were displaced due to “climatic factors” in ten provinces of the center and south of the country, according to a report published by the International Organization for Migration in August.
The United Nations and several non-governmental organizations warned last June that water scarcity and challenges to sustainable agriculture and food security are among the “main drivers of rural-urban migration” in Iraq.
The World Bank also warned at the end of 2021 that by 2050, “a rise in temperature of one degree Celsius and a decrease in precipitation by 10% will lead to a 20% decrease in the available fresh water” in the country.
