Portions Of Iraq Are Drying Up Completely

By John Laumer, TreeHugger. Posted August 28, 2009.

Certainly the headline is a bit of hyperbole; but, the underlying point should not be lost. The human impact of climate change, combined with the demands of a burgeoning regional population may exceed that of insurrection in Iraq. As reported in The Guardian, Water shortage threatens two million people in southern Iraq "During the last five chaotic years, many new dams and reservoirs have been built in Turkey, Syria and Iran, which share the Euphrates and its small tributaries. The effect has been to starve the Euphrates of its lifeblood, which throughout the ages has guaranteed bountiful water, even during drought."

A symbol of change as reported in USA Today:

As if ongoing bombings and drought weren't enough, Hassan al-Asadi, a member of the Dhi Qar provincial council in southern Iraq, said that a few months ago, water snakes that had lost their natural habitat along the rivers started to show up around houses near al-Chibaiysh marshland.

"The snakes were looking for food and dozens of people were bitten," he said, adding that for a time, Iraqi soldiers and policemen were shooting about 70 wayward snakes a day.

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John Laumer is an independent consultant who joined TreeHugger.

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