Director of the Environmental Department in southern Iraq Walid Hamid said May 21 that “Ministry of Health statistics indicate that 2,000 cases of cancer are recorded annually due to oil flares that release toxic gases into the air as a result of extraction operations in the Basra fields.” He criticized oil companies for their disregard […]
The post-apocalypse issues continue to tickle the nerves of modern readers and viewers. The genre is gradually merging with reality: from January 2020, you will not surprise anyone with the scenario of the disease of all humankind with an unknown virus. And the climate on Earth in recent years presents us with weather disasters, too. […]
As the so-called Islamic State lost control over the areas it once occupied, it left behind a toxic legacy. The initial findings of a scoping mission undertaken by UN Environment Programme’s Conflict and Disasters branch found a trail of localized pollution that could have acute and chronic consequences for Iraq – and not just for […]
The war in Syria has been ferocious and deadly. In 2016, the death toll was estimated at 400,000. In Iraq, the fight against the Islamic State (IS) has destroyed cities and displaced around 3.3 million people. Yet beyond the immediate consequences of these conflicts, the environmental degradation in both countries could have a far-reaching impact. […]
Let’s check the story by Rudaw from a war-thorn Iraqi Kurdistan. *** Children and parents alike giggled as they played in a stream lined by weeping willow trees, a vein of life in a remote village otherwise slumbering in the overpowering late June sun. Nearby, a white Toyota pick-up truck carrying four plainclothes militants made […]
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has signed two new contracts to remediate soil contaminated by oil spills in North and South Kuwait, as part of the Kuwait Environmental Rehabilitation Program (KERP), GDNonline reports. CEO Emad Mahmoud Sultan represented the Company in signing the contracts. DCEO (Major Projects & Technical Services) Khalid Al-Otaibi, DCEO (Commercial & Common […]
Even after the passage of some 30 years, Saudi Arabia’s environment continues to suffer the effects of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait and its subsequent liberation during the 1991 Gulf War, Arab News states. The establishment of significant encampments for hundreds of thousands of allied troops, military fortifications, and roadways, together with […]
Let’s get to know what Halgurd-Sakran National Park in the Iraqi Kurdistan region is, thankfully to Rudaw article. Keep in mind that the journalist describes nature in winter. *** Crystal clear, ice-cold water rushes through a narrow gorge, tumbling over rocks and under a rickety bridge. Cliffs tower overhead, the rock face of one side […]
In southern Iraq, where the two significant streams merge into the Shatt Al-Arab, the reduced flow has caused saltwater intrusion from the Gulf, degrading the waterway that is shaded by lush palm groves on its banks, Arab News reports. As Iraq bakes in the blistering summer heat, its hardscrabble farmers and livestock herders are battling […]
There has been much debate about Iraq – but not about the considerable environmental damage which a war would cause. Duncan McLaren and Ian Willmore of Friends of the Earth assess the evidence. This article was published by The Guardian on January 19, 2003 – but there’s still no peace in Iraq and especially in […]
