NNA -nbsp;Climate change exacerbated a severe drought in Syria, Iraq and Iran and made it far more likely to occur, scientists found in a study published on Wednesday.
Since 2020, the region has experienced extremely low rainfall and persistent heat, leading to a drought that has displaced millions of people, ruined crops, and contributed to food insecurity.
Researchers from the World Weather Attribution mdash; an academic collaboration that investigates the role of climate change in extreme weather events mdash; looked at the hard-hit areas of the Tigris-Euphrates basin, which spans Syria and Iraq, as well as Iran.
The study found that increased temperatures, caused by the burning of fossil fuelsnbsp;mdash;nbsp;predominantly oil, gas, and coal mdash;nbsp;made the drought 25 times more likely in Syria and Iraq, and 16 times more likely in Iran.
It also made the drought worse than it otherwise would have been, bringing it from normal conditions to an extreme drought, on the US Drought Monitor scale.
High temperatures lead to more evaporation of water from soil and plants, making it more severe, they found. However, climate change did not appear to be responsible for changes in the region#39;s rainfall.–DW
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