Iraq plans to plant five million palms and trees to combat the effects of global warming. This was expressed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, informs RFI.
Iraq suffers from extreme summer heat, frequent drought, desertification and regular dust storms. Especially many problems are caused by so-called haboobs, which are powerful storms that can shade the sky with sand and dust masses. More than seven million Iraqis are already affected by climate change, with hundreds of thousands displaced by drought, the prime minister said. Last spring, about a dozen large sand or dust storms hit Iraq. They covered Baghdad and other areas, preventing thousands of people from breathing and forcing airports and schools to close.
In this context, the government declared “a major initiative to combat afforestation, which includes planting five million trees and palms in all governorates”. [областях] Iraq.” As a result, green belts will appear, which, among other things, protect cities from wind and dust flows.
In addition, the prime minister complained about the actions of Turkey, which built dams on the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates. For this reason, the decrease in the water level in these rivers in Iraq is one of the factors in the desertification of the region. “Unilateral control over water resources in upstream countries increases the vulnerability of countries facing the effects of climate change,” the politician concluded.
Former environmentalists refutedthat global warming is rapidly changing the channels of Arctic rivers.