2. SYRIA
WATER SHORTAGE
The devastating civil war that began in Syria in March 2011 is the
result of complex interrelated factors. The focus of the conflict is
regime change, but the triggers include a broad set of religious and
sociopolitical factors, the erosion of the economic health of the
country, a wave of political reform sweeping over the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA) and Levant region, and challenges associated
with climate variability and change and the availability and use of
freshwater.
What Cause Syria water shortage?
3. SYRIA
WATER SHORTAGE
Poor planning and management, wasteful irrigation systems, intensive wheat and
cotton farming and a rapidly growing population are straining water resources in Syria
in a year which has seen unprecedented internal displacement
What Cause Syria water shortage?
4. SYRIA
WATER SHORTAGE
Compared to other Middle Eastern countries, Syria is not naturally water
poor. According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Arab Human
Development Report 2009 [http://www.arab-
hdr.org/contents/index.aspx?rid=5], Syria was ranked 13th out of 20 Arab
countries for precipitation per capita.
See Table 1 & Figure 4
Is Syria Prone to water shortages?
7. SYRIA
WATER SHORTAGE
Has Syria experienced water shortage in the past?
In addition to having relatively little overall freshwater in proportion to demands, Syria, like
the region as a whole, experiences high natural hydrologic variability. Over the past century
(from 1900 to 2005), there were six significant droughts in Syria, where the average
monthly level of winter precipitation—the major rainfall season—dropped to around one-
third of normal. Five of these droughts lasted only one season; the sixth lasted two
(Mohtadi 2013). Starting in 2006, however, and lasting into 2011, Syria experienced a
multiseason, multiyear period of extreme drought that contributed to agricultural failures,
economic dislocations, and population displacement (Worth 2010).
8. SYRIA
WATER SHORTAGE
What is current Climate in Syria?
Mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy
winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet
periodically in Damascus
9. SYRIA
WATER SHORTAGE
There is evidence that the 2007−2010 drought contributed to the conflict in Syria. It was
the worst drought in the instrumental record, causing widespread crop failure and a
mass migration of farming families to urban centers. Century-long observed trends in
precipitation, temperature, and sea-level pressure, supported by climate model results,
strongly suggest that anthropogenic forcing has increased the probability of severe and
persistent droughts in this region, and made the occurrence of a 3-year drought as severe
as that of 2007−2010 2 to 3 times more likely than by natural variability alone. We
conclude that human influences on the climate system are implicated in the current
Syrian conflict. See Chart on Next Slide
Has Climate Changed In Syria?
11. Was the Syrian civil war partly caused by climate change? Prince Charles, for one, seems to think so.
“There is very good evidence indeed that one of the major reasons for this horror in Syria was a drought
that lasted for about five or six years,” he told Sky News, adding that climate change is having a “huge
impact” on conflict and terrorism.
The Prince is not alone on this one: he joins a chorus of voices making similar claims. In the US President
Obama, Al Gore, and the democratic presidential hopefuls Martine O’Malley and Bernie Sanders have
all talked of a link between climate change and the Syria conflict, Sanders going so far as to argue that
climate change is “directly related to the growth of terrorism”.
Link between water supply and Armed Activities In Syria
12. Syria Climate Change, Drought and Social Unrest
Syria’s current social unrest is, in the most direct sense, a reaction to a brutal and
out-of-touch regime and a response to the political wave of change that began in
Tunisia early last year. However, that’s not the whole story. The past few years
have seen a number of significant social, economic, environmental and climatic
changes in Syria that have eroded the social contract between citizen and
government in the country, have strengthened the case for the opposition
movement, and irreparably damaged the legitimacy of the al-Assad regime.
Syria Drought & The Civil War
without clean water Syria
Civilization can no longer survive
13. Hitachi Infrastructure Systems May be the solution
to Syria Water Shortage
Hitachi Systems Providing Water to Help Create Desert Ecosystems
Hitachi solar-powered desalination plants provide fresh water in the
remote Abu Dhabi desert regions. The Environment Agency of Abu
Dhabi are creating new habitats in remote desert regions, to help re-
introduce the Arabian Oryx which has been extinct in the wild since
1972. Working with Hitachi to supply solar powered desalination
plants to provide fresh water for drinking and irrigation for the new
plantations of native plants
15. References
Gary Nabhan, as cited by Femia and Werrell 2012
Femia and Werrell 2013; FAO 2012; Mhanna 2013.
[http://www.arab-hdr.org/contents/index.aspx?rid=5]
http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/syria/
(HADI MIZBAN /ASSOCIATED PRESS)
HTTP://WWW.HITACHI.AE/ENG/CASE_STUDIES/DESALINATION-PLANTS/
HTTP://WWW.HITACHI.AE/ENG/CASE_STUDIES/DESALINATION-PLANTS/INDEX.HTML
IRIN Middle East English Service. Mar. 25, 2010
http://www.irinnews.org/IRIN-ME.aspx
http://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3241.short
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/29/climate-change-syria-civil-war-prince-charles
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