As world leaders meet in Egypt for a climate summit to address issues that include water and food supplies, many across Iraq and the broader Middle East are facing a crisis that could fuel more regional turmoil as communities fight over dwindling water resources.
“Climate change is a reality in Iraq,” the United Nations mission in the country said, adding that Iraq is the world’s fifth most vulnerable nation to the fallout from global warming due to rising temperatures, lower rainfall, salinity and dust storms.
Officials and water experts in Iraq said rains had come later and ended sooner in each of the past three years.