"Under these circumstances, nearly one third of the irrigated land in Iraq will have no water.". The pressure that they and the influx of over a million Iraqi refugees created placed stress on resources, preparing the ground for civil strife and extremism, ultimately erupting into mass protests. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. It originates at the confluence of the Karasu and Murat rivers in the Armenian highlands of northeastern Turkey, through the valley, and . Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King Davids Tomb on Mount Zion, emphasized that it is precisely during the holiday of Sukkoth that the world is judged on how much rain it will receive in the upcoming year. As we are seeing more and more signs of geula (redemption) appearing precisely as prophesied, it is important to remember the prophecies and not get distracted by our own interpretations. It was the river that is said to have watered the biblical Garden of Eden and helped give birth to civilization itself. Beginning in the 1960s, however, Israel and Jordan began diverting much of the Jordan Rivers flow and increased the use of the lakes water itself for commercial purposes. The Middle East is considered to be one of the areas most vulnerable to climate change, which is set to make the regions problems with water scarcity even worse. jQuery("#inline_cta_394427").html(inline_cta_text_394427); magazine_button_bg_color_394427 = '#dd3333'; The Monumental Improvisations of Sonny Rollins And water was one of the final status issues that Israel agreed at Oslo they would refrain from impacting through unilateral actions. Though the organizers claimed the event was a symbol of protest against religious extremism, it coincided with Beltane, the major festival for the worship of Baal. The Aral Seas greatest extent from north to south was almost 270 miles (435 km), while from east to west it was just over 180 miles (290 km). It was named after Elwood Mead, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation (192436). The lake lies in the bottom of the large central depression of the Azerbaijan region in northwestern Iran, at an elevation of 4,183 feet (1,275 meters) above sea level. What was once known as the Fertile Crescent started to die about 35 years ago, he said. received only 50-70 percent of normal rainfall. And so does our livelihood. Until recently the Baghdad authorities used heavy machinery to dredge the silt, but with cash tight, work has slowed. "The sea water rises and comes here.". Water security seems set to be an increasingly important issue in Iran andshortages helped sparkwidespreadprotestsin the southwestern Khuzestan province in the summer of 2021. That year, Israel overran the West Bank, seizing all of Mandatory Palestine and the Golan Heights, and intensified its exploitation of the waters of the sea, the Jordan River, and the waters of the West Banks aquifers. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea.At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 km 2 (2,000 sq mi), a length of 140 km (87 mi), a . The Euphrates River Drying Up: Unveiling the Silent Crisis of Mysterious Desiccation and Urgent Call for Action. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Murjani, Low water levels are seen in the Euphrates river,near Qere Qozaq controlled by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Syria, October 16, 2022. With water already a scarce commodity and with both countries confronted by climate-change-induced desertification, their rapidly growing populations and struggling economies will soon face monumental challenges and growing unrest. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles - The New York Times Battered by one natural disaster after another, it is one of the five countries most exposed to climate change, according to the United Nations. cta_1_check_394427 = true; Middle East Eye takes a look at some of the lakes that are under threat. By the mid-2010s the lake level was more than 100 feet (some 30 meters) below the mid-20th-century figurei.e., about 1,410 feet (430 meters) below sea levelbut the lake continued to drop by about 3 feet (1 meter) annually. var cta_1_check_394427 = false; Italy's rivers dry up and its farm fields bake as Europe's devastating heat wave exacerbates a record-setting drought. Baghdad regularly asks Ankara to release more water. In 1960 the surface of the Aral Sea lay 175 feet (53 meters) above sea level and covered an area of some 26,300 square miles (68,000 square km). The land around these two rivers was historically part of the Fertile Cresent that provided the ideal conditions for settled farming to develop, eventually giving rise to some of the worlds first urban civilizations, such as Mesopotamia. However, unlike supernatural explanations like the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, there is a very real environmental phenomenon driving this problem: chronic droughts and climate change. It is clear that what is happening in Syria is the prophecy of Jeremiah, Rabbi Berger said. What Does the Future of the Euphrates Spell for the Middle East It is estimated that Euphrates dams have resulted in an 80 percent decline in Iraq's water supply. The list below discusses some of Earths lakes that belong to the second category. The decrease in water primarily has resulted from a major drought in 2007 and the loss of snow pack in the mountains to the north. July 5, 2022 Comments 2 Several rivers in South Central Texas are drying up with little to no relief in sight. This includes a host of water-borne infectious diseases like cholera, as well as chicken pox, measles, and typhoid. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Murjani, Farhan Al-Salal, 55, Mayor of Al Bu Hussain village, inspects a well which no longer produces water, in the village of Al-Bu Hussain, Diwaniya, Iraq, October 11, 2022. High temperatures combined with accompanying droughts, erratic rainfall patterns, and environmental mismanagement, risk leaving an irreversible impact on natural landscapes and geographic formations. The name roughly translates from Mongolic and Turkic languages to "Sea of Islands . This lake in west-central Bolivia occupies a shallow depression in the Altiplano, or high plateau, at 12,090 feet (3,686 meters) above sea level. Twilight of the Tigris: Iraq's Mighty River Drying Up - Voice of America In addition to proposals for reducing the amount of river water diverted by Israel and Jordan, those two countries discussed proposals for canals that would bring additional water to the Dead Sea. Middle East's Fertile Crescent dries up as rains fail Photography by Alaa Al-Marjani and Orhan Qereman Reporting by Amina Ismail and Maha El Dahan Filed November 14, 2022, 07:00 a.m. GMT. At its fullest volume, in the 1970s, the lake was about 87 miles (140 km) long and 25 to 35 miles (40 to 55 km) wide, with a maximum depth of 53 feet (16 meters). Tom is a writer in London with a Master's degree in Journalism whose editorial work covers anything from health and the environment to technology and archaeology. Aral Sea - Wikipedia This year, rainfall in southern Turkey where the Euphrates begins was the lowest in 30 years and for the past two years, the region has received only 50-70 percent of normal rainfall. jQuery("#magazine_button_394427").html(magazine_button_text_394427); inline_cta_url_394427 = 'https://www.thenation.com/donate-website?utm_medium=website&utm_source=Website&utm_campaign=june-appeal&sourceid=1066666&ms=post-inline&utm_content=post-inline'; inline_cta_url_394427 = 'https://www.thenation.com/donate-website?utm_medium=website&utm_source=Website&utm_campaign=june-appeal&sourceid=1066666&ms=post-inline&utm_content=post-inline'; VIDEO: People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. "In the US, the Colorado River is drying up at its banks and thinning out, as a historic drought in the US West shows little sign of abating. The Monumental Improvisations of Sonny Rollins / People see the drought but miss the meaning which could actually contain the solution., It is interesting to note that Jeremiahs Syria prophecy is appearing just as an, art exhibit in Londons Chisenhale Gallery, recreates a colonnade from the pagan temple of Palmyra, Syria. How Jeffrey Epstein Captivated Harvard if( magazine_text_394427 !='' ){ tn_loc:'atf' In northern Iraq and Syria the same mix of lower rainfall and rivers has combined with conflict and neglect to devastate rural communities. Some analysts see Israels water diversion schemes as a precipitating factor leading to 1967s Arab-Israeli War. By Campbell Robertson July 13, 2009 JUBAISH, Iraq Throughout the marshes, the reed gatherers, standing on land they once floated over, cry out to visitors in a passing boat. The Iranian-born, Montreal-based artist Abbas Akhavan came up with the idea of this colonnade when he saw an image of then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson unveiling a replica of the, 28-meter tall 3-D printed model created by the Institute for Digital Archeology representing the famous arch of the original Temple of Palmyra in Syria that was. Mad Max, anyone? And the fourth river is the Euphrates. }. It is the largest lake in the Middle East, and it has historically covered an area that varied from 2,000 to 2,300 square miles (5,200 to 6,000 square km). Formed by the confluence of the . The river; which begins its flow in Turkey, continues through Syria and culminates in Iraq; has become a polluted channel brimming with sewage. The sections, which together span an area 89.5 miles (144 km) long and 47.8 miles (77 km) wide, are joined by the narrow Goyder Channel. Feature Years of war have destroyed much of Iraqs water infrastructure, with many cities, factories, farms and even hospitals left to dump their waste straight into the river. Ecological awareness also remains low among the general public, said activist Hajer Hadi of the Green Climate group, even if every Iraqi feels climate change through rising temperatures, lower rainfall, falling water levels and dust storms, she said. Environmental policies have not been a high priority for Iraqi governments struggling with political, security and economic crises. }else{ Lower volumes of water flowing from Turkey through the Tigris and Euphrates, rivers on which Iraq has depended most for irrigation, have left it more exposed when the rain dried up, said Harry Istepanian, an independent energy and water expert in Washington and a senior fellow at the Iraq Energy Institute. Located in the central . But another threat is affecting the Shatt al-Arab: salt water from the Gulf is pushing ever further upstream as the river flow declines. magazine_button_url_394427 = 'https://www.thenation.com/email-signup-module-donate/'; The longest river in southwest Asia, it is 1,740 miles (2,800 km) long, and it is one of the two main constituents of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. Jeremiah 50:38-39. As water levels drop, sinkholes have begun to appear, destroying the landscape and making it unsafe for people to walk on. cta_1_check_394427 = true; However, the lake now resembles deserted land after a dramatic drying up of its waters. According to Iranianmedia, the lake, which was once home to around 60,000 flamingos, has experienced a 30cm drop in water levels during the first quarter of 2021 alone due to lower than expected rainfall. It has a total length of 1,730 miles. Concern mounted quickly over the continued drop in the Dead Seas water level, prompting studies and calls for greater conservation of the Jordan Rivers water resources. Jorge Cotte As world leaders meet in Egypt for a climate summit to address issues including water and food security, Elwans plight highlights a crisis facing Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries that could fuel more turmoil in the region as communities fight over dwindling water resources. After yet another attempt failed in August, he took a gun from the kitchen of their mud house and slipped into the night. jQuery("#inline_cta_btn_394427 a input").css("background",inline_cta_bg_color_394427); The arch was a pagan Roman structure that stood in front of the Temple of Baal 2,000 years ago to honor the god of orgies and child sacrifice. The Euphrates River Drying Up: Unveiling the Silent Crisis of Poor environmental planning, such as redirecting water from streams and rivers that feed the lakes have also had an impact on water levels. Middle East Also called Kati ThandaLake Eyre, this great salt lake in central South Australia has a total area of 4,281 square miles (11,088 square km). Euphrates River, Turkish Frat Nehri, Arabic Nahr Al-Furt, river, Middle East. Copyright 2023 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. Now there are so many sandstorms because there are no plants and trees to protect us, he said. For it is a land of idols; They are besotted by their dread images. However, today dilapidated buildings and boats surround the lake, which has largely dried up. Photos: Middle East's Fertile Crescent dries up as rains fail The International Organization for Migration said last month that climate factors had displaced more than 3,300 families in Iraqs central and southern areas in the first three months of this year. But new research from the Water Resources Research academy confirms that both rivers are now losing water at an . Though the organizers claimed the event was a symbol of protest against religious extremism, it coincided with Beltane, the major festival for the worship of Baal. Regional water policies have contributed to the declining water levels in the lake, with many blaming the slowing flow fromthe Euphrates River which is in turn caused by dams further upstream in Turkey. Across Iraq's south, there is a sense of an ending. In Turkeys southeast, where the Tigris and Euphrates draw their waters, rainfall in the year to September was 29 percent below the average of the previous three decades, and it was even worse in 2021, data from Turkeys meteorological agency showed. I stopped farming because it was impossible to irrigate the agricultural land, said Ahmed Hammoud, standing next to newly dried-up banks along the Euphrates in northern Syria. China Experiencing Blistering Heat, Rivers Drying Up, Records are Broken In the Christian Book of Revelation, it is prophesied that in the near future the Potamos Euphrates or breaking forth like water of the middle east will dry up in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon. Meanwhile, you can now submit a question on the conflict for our military analysts or team . REUTERS/Orhan Qereman, Salt residue is seen on arid farmland in al-Muthana Province, Iraq, October 11, 2022. In this case, Syria has much to repent for. For millennia, dozens of civilizations and hundreds of millions of souls have been nourished by the waters of the Middle Eastthe Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the East, the Nile in the West . Italy's rivers dry up and its farm fields bake as Europe's devastating Due to a combination of factors - including pollution and allocation - the river is drying up. Jordan River, Arabic Nahr Al-Urdun, Hebrew Ha-Yarden, river of southwestern Asia, in the Middle East region. Just as the Bible warned, the Euphrates River is drying up. if( cta_1_check_394427 ){ Human activity and climate change have choked its once mighty flow through Iraq, where -- with its twin river the Euphrates -- it made Mesopotamia a cradle of civilisation thousands of years ago.Iraq may be oil-rich but the country is plagued by . Al-Rached said he has to buy water from tankers for his livestock, and wildlife is now encroaching into settled areas in search of water. Gallery | In Pictures Photos: Middle East's Fertile Crescent dries up as rains fail Residents endure drought, decades of conflict and lower rainfall along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.. Mustafa Qazmouz, a 23-year-old farmer in Diwaniya, was killed three years ago during a dispute after his neighbour expanded a pipeline from a canal to divert a bigger share of water, Qazmouzs brother Haider said. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Murjani, A sandal lies on the floor of an abandoned house in the village of Al-Bouzayyat, Diwaniya, Iraq, October 11, 2022. The Many Enigmas of Oppenheimer In just a few decades, the flow in the Euphrates-Tigris River system has decreased to almost half of the average annual flow during dry years. var magazine_button_url_394427 = ''; Withpopulations rising across the Middle East and the demand for fresh water and food resources growing, the fate of the region's lakes could have dramatic consequences. Last month local authorities reported that salt levels in the river north of Basra reached 6,800 parts per million, nearly seven times that of fresh water. Prophecy from the Bible is revealing itself as we speak. The Dead Sea, which is also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake located between Israel and Jordan in southwestern Asia. tn_author: ['james-z'], He said the fight broke out when water ministry employees started replacing a distribution pipe in the canal because the water level had dropped below it. Israel365 News is the only media outlet reporting on it. I want to plant, like my ancestors.". They were taken for granted, because they were always there and it was assumed they would always be there. The Dead Sea is drying up because of overexploitation and climate change Overexploitation of natural resources and climate change threaten the Dead Sea, a natural wonder drying up rapidly. Middle East News: BAGHDAD: It was the river that is said to have watered the biblical Garden of Eden and helped give birth to civilisation itself. Middle East's Fertile Crescent dries up as rains fail If these challenges are not addressed, the results will be devastating to the livelihood and survival of hundreds of millions of people and other living beings, and the resultant tensions have the potential to fuel even greater conflicts than we see at present. The human-caused climate crisis is fuelling extreme weather across the globe, which isn't just impacting rivers, but also the people who rely on them, a CNN report said. var inline_cta_button_text_394427 = ''; In recent months, that amount has dropped to as little as 200 cubic meters per second. Syria is currently facing its worst drought in 70 years. The Euphrates River Is Drying Up, Something Strange Is Happening The Many Enigmas of Oppenheimer World's rivers drying up; Europe warned of worst drought in 5 centuries IFLScience The Big Questions: Can We Save A Species On The Very Brink Of Extinction? But Turkeys ambassador to Iraq, Ali Riza Guney, urged Iraq to use the available water more efficiently, tweeting in July that water is largely wasted in Iraq. In Iraq, officials and water experts said rains had come later and ended sooner in each of the last three years. Iraq's Water Crisis Drying up Fish Farming in Basra Inefficient use of the water Iraq does get - due to poor management, illegal siphoning of supplies, and old, leaking infrastructure after decades of war - has combined with a rapidly growing population to exacerbate the crisis, he said. "Before, the water was pouring in torrents," he said, but over the last two or three years "there is less water every day". Much of the path of the Euphrates inside Syria lies inside the northeastern region of the country which is controlled by the semi-independent Kurds which Turkey considers to be a terrorist organization. Lake Chad is a variable body of water, and its surface area typically reaches its maximum in late October or early November, before shrinking by more than half by late April or early May. "All our work, our agriculture, depends on it. What's Found Under Greenland's Kilometers Of Ice? Once the worlds fourth largest body of inland water, this lake is an inland sea that is also called the Orol Sea, Aral Tengizi, or Orol Dengizi. All of these situations pose real threats to human life, because of the poverty and dislocation they create and the danger they pose to greater conflict. Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has long believed that independent journalism has the capacity to bring about a more democratic and equitable world. When Did The Euphrates River Dry Up? - FAQS Clear tn_keyword: [false], Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current. Water reaching the lake evaporates very rapidly, and the surface of the lake bed has a thin crust of salt deposited by water that has evaporated. Thirty people were injured and 11 arrested, said Abdel Wahab Al-Yasary, deputy governor for agriculture and water in the southern province. The World Bank warned last year that much of Iraq is likely to face a similar fate. NASA - NASA Satellites Find Freshwater Losses in Middle East It was the river that is said to have watered the biblical Garden of Eden and helped give birth to civilisation itself.But today the Tigris is dying. The consequences can be seen not only in the drying up of once irrigated farmlands, and the dislocation and impoverishment of small farmers, but also in the increased intensity of dust storms, with effects felt as far away as the Arabian Peninsula. As a salt lake, its water is not useful for agricultural irrigation and human consumptions, but high temperatures have nevertheless helped lower its surface levels. Crops were grown, and fish were caught; people drank, bathed, and washed clothes; and the waters figured prominently in various religious texts. All Rights Reserved. The Middle East's winters are projected to get drier the more the world warms, and while the summers will be wetter, the heat is expected to offset its water gains, according to scientists'. But in southern Iraq, competition for water is now fuelling disputes and conflict between farming communities, according to seven tribal leaders and Iraqi officials. The Kurdish authorities are accusing the Turkish government of withholding water for political purposes. Lake Chad is a freshwater lake in the Sahelian zone of west-central Africa at the conjunction of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. inline_cta_font_color_394427 = '#000000'; A boat lies on the dried out shore of the Euphrates river, near Qere Qozaq, controlled by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Syria, October 16, 2022. Turkey says it has never changed the course of the rivers, or cut off any water. Residents downstream feared the move was designed to divert more water away from them. "By 2050 a temperature increase of one degree Celsius and a precipitation decrease of 10 percent would cause a 20 percent reduction of available freshwater," it said. Iraqi Kurdish farmers install irrigation pipes on an agricultural land in the village of Bajid Kandala, situated on the banks of the Tigris river, some 50km west of the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk, on Feb. 18, 2022. The country is part of the Fertile Crescent, a region sweeping from the Mediterranean to the Gulf where farming developed more than 10,000 years ago. Formed by the damming of the Colorado River, Lake Mead extends 115 miles (185 km) upstream, is 1 to 10 miles (1.6 to 16 km) wide, and has a capacity of 31,047,000 acre-feet (38,296,200,000 cubic meters) with 550 miles (885 km) of shoreline and a surface area of 229 square miles (593 square km). but evaporation rates in the region are so high that most of the rivers in the basin dry up before reaching the lake. According to the Water Stress Index, out of 37 countries in the world facing "extremely high" water distress, 15 are in the Middle East, with Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia heading the list. Most of the remaining inflow is contributed by the Ebeji (El-Bid) and Yedseram rivers. Climate change is a reality in Iraq, the United Nations mission in Iraq said, adding that the country was the world's fifth most vulnerable to the fallout from global warming due to rising temperatures, lower rainfall, salinity, and dust storms.

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