2008Apr: From NASA, “One of the worst droughts in the past decade settled heavily over the Fertile Crescent region of Iraq and Syria in the winter of 2007-2008. Under normal conditions, winter rain and rivers flowing from the mountains of Turkey sustain the rich agricultural land that has fed humanity from the dawn of civilization. But little to no rain fell between October and December during the crucial planting period, and sparse rain fell in the months that followed, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)…The winter’s drought was followed by a hot, dry spring that further damaged crops. As a result, Iraqi farmers were anticipating a harvest as much as 51 percent smaller than the harvest of 2007, said the FAS. Syrian farmers faired a little better, though FAS expected that the Syrian wheat harvest would be 38 percent lower than in 2007. The image shows that the drought also crept east into Iran’s wheat-growing region, where farmers were anticipating their smallest harvest in six years” (NASA).
Reference: NASA. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14868&src=map
Image Description: see case description. Image Credit and Location: NASA. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14868&src=map Image Permission: This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that “NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted”.
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This post is tagged 2000s Climate Change Events, 21st Century and Climate Change, Agriculture and Climate Change, Asia and Climate Change, Climate Change Effects, Developing Countries and Climate Change Effects, Droughts, Europe and Climate Change, Iran and Climate Change, South Asia and Climate Change, Syria and Climate Change, Turkey and Climate Change, West Asia and Climate Change
