"In parts of Morocco, reservoirs have fallen to record low levels. The government has enacted water restrictions in major cities, including limits on household use, and curtailed irrigation for farmers. Water systems in Lebanon have already crumbled under alternating floods and droughts, and in Iraq and Syria, small farmers are abandoning their land as rivers shrink and seasonal rains become unreliable."
"The WMO report ranked 2024 as the hottest year ever measured in the Arab world. Summer heatwaves spread and persisted across Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt. Parts of Iraq recorded six to 12 days with highs above 50° Celsius (122° Fahrenheit), conditions that are life-threatening even for healthy adults. Across the region, the report noted an increase in the number of heat-wave days in recent decades while humidity has declined. The dangerous combination speeds soil drying and crop damage."
"By contrast, other parts of the region-the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and southern Saudi Arabia-were swamped by destructive record rains and flooding during 2024. The extremes will test the limits of adaptation, said Rola Dashti, executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, who often works with the WMO to analyze climate impacts. Climate extremes in 2024 killed at least 300 people in the region."
Human-caused warming is stressing farms, reservoirs, and aquifers across the Arab region, threatening water supplies and livelihoods. Six years of drought in the Maghreb have slashed wheat yields and forced increased grain imports. Reservoirs in parts of Morocco have fallen to record lows, prompting household water limits and curtailed irrigation. Lebanon’s water systems have crumbled under alternating floods and droughts, and small farmers in Iraq and Syria are abandoning land as rivers shrink and rains become unreliable. 2024 was the hottest year measured in the region, with persistent heatwaves, rising heat-wave days, falling humidity, accelerated soil drying, and widespread crop damage. Simultaneous record rains and flooding in the Gulf states caused deadly impacts, with at least 300 fatalities regionwide and severe damage to farmland in countries like Sudan.
Read at Ars Technica
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