Civil defense

Heavy precipitation and drought have been increasing with scientific certainty in many regions of the world

Drought caused by climate change and the decrease in precipitation have affected the basin of Lake Van, the water sources, agriculture and animal husbandry in the region, experts have warned.

"Heat rose, while precipitation decreased in the last decade," Faruk Alaeddinoğlu, a professor from Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, told state-run Anadolu Agency.

The severity and spatial impact of drought on Turkey will increase and the country will face a more intense drought cycle within 100 years, according to a report submitted to the Climate Research Commission of the Turkish Parliament.

Turkey is heading toward farming season under a severe threat of drought, a water report has revealed, noting a 50 percent decrease in the rate of precipitation across the country in April.

"There was 90 percent decline in rainfalls in the Southeastern Anatolia region and some 76 percent decline in Eastern Anatolia in April," said a report published by Water Policy Association.

Located in Central Anatolia and once known as Turkey's grain warehouse, the Konya Closed Basin is fighting drought due to improper irrigation activities and uncontrolled agriculture.

Çıralı Sinkhole, one of the most important natural formations in the region with an area of nearly 17,500 square meters, has also dried up after weeks without rain.

Turkey has been going through the most severe period of drought in the last 10 years, and the measures and strategies to be taken will impact future generations, according to an expert.

Plans for Greece's new civil protect mechanism appear to put too much emphasis on fighting fires rather than preventing them, warns Professor Johann Georg Goldammer, director of the Global Fire Monitoring Center based at Freiburg University and senior scientist at the Max Planck Society for Chemistry, Biogeochemistry Department, who was invited by the previous government to lead a special commi

Population growth, industrialization and climate change are putting intense pressure on the planet's limited water supplies, and Turkey is expected to feel the impacts in the near future, an official from the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has said.

Weak from hunger and thirst, the elephant struggled to reach a pool of water in this African wildlife reserve. But the majestic mammal got stuck in the mud surrounding the sun-baked watering hole, which had dramatically shrunk due to a severe drought.

A record 45 million people are at risk of a food crisis over the next six months in southern Africa, the BTA warned today. The reason for this is the severe drought that has hit part of South Africa, as well as the adverse effects of natural disasters such as the Idai cyclone that devastated Mozambique earlier this year.