Shafaq News documents unprecedented drought grips southern Iraq

Shafaq News / Southern regions of Iraq, specifically the provinces of Dhi Qar and al-Muthanna, are experiencing a deadly reality as an unparalleled drought ravages these once water-rich areas with multiple sources. Every aspect of the landscape appears arid — from wetlands to rivers and water bodies. Even the once-green land now resembles a barren desert, as documented by the lens of Shafaq News Agency.

Residents of Nasiriyah and Samawah reveal that relevant government departments are effectively closed, having failed to provide even temporary solutions to avert this catastrophe. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, flowing through Maysan and Dhi Qar provinces and extending to Basra in southern Iraq, have encountered an unprecedented drought despite the arrival of spring and the onset of summer.

For the fourth consecutive year, Iraq, ranked the fifth most climate-affected country in the world by the United Nations, confronts a severe drought wave. This is attributed to declining rainfall and rising temperatures. However, authorities also point a finger at the dams constructed by neighboring Turkey and Iran on the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, which lead to a depletion of the rivers' water levels as they traverse Iraq.

In July of the previous year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a United Nations agency, issued a warning about the historical marshlands in southern Iraq, stating that the region is experiencing "the most intense heatwave in 40 years," and also highlighting a significant decline in water levels.