Türkiye hit by severe drought amid lack of precipitation

This aerial photo taken on January 17, 2023 shows the Selkapani Dam Lake and its dry land in Ankara, Türkiye. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) — Türkiye is experiencing severe drought as dams around the country’s major cities have reached low levels amid a lack of precipitation and an unusually warm winter stemming from global climate change.

Murat Kurum, Turkish environment, urbanization and climate change minister, warned recently on his Twitter account that “the picture does not give hope.”

“I reviewed the data from the Meteorological Institute. We had the hottest December in the last 52 years. Rainfall has decreased drastically,” he said.

This aerial photo taken on Jan. 5, 2023 shows Alibeykoy Dam, one of the dams that provide drinking water for people in Istanbul, Türkiye. Insufficient rainfall has caused severe drought throughout Türkiye, especially in the highly populated western and northwestern regions, according to data released Thursday. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)

Adil Tek, head of Kandilli Observatory Meteorology Laboratory at Istanbul’s Bogazici University, also rang the alarm bells.

“The precipitation was drastically low, especially during the past three months, which was at least 50 percent below the average,” he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

“In January, we foresee that precipitation will remain below average in most parts of Türkiye, particularly in the Marmara northwest, Aegean west, and western Black Sea regions,” he said.

Recently, the storage of the dams in different parts of Türkiye has decreased, which is 31.65 percent in Istanbul and 18.18 percent in the capital city Ankara as of January 10, according to official data.

This aerial photo taken on January 17, 2023 shows the Selkapani Dam Lake and its dry land in Ankara, Türkiye. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Problems with the precipitation regime also raise concerns about agriculture. Representatives of the Chamber of Agriculture and Farmers said that they are worried about yield loss due to the lack of rainfall.

Ahmet Guldal, general manager of the Turkish Products Office, stated that agricultural activities will be seriously damaged if the expected rainfall in the coming months does not come.

Veli Gelen, a farmer from the northwestern province of Eskisehir, said that his livelihood will face hardship because of drought.

“Wheat and barley production will be less than half of what we produced in previous years, and this is mainly because we didn’t have rain nor snow in recent months,” he said to Xinhua.

He added that this year’s crop will be the worst in a decade and that his livestock would also be under threat as he uses some of its products as fodder.

Photo taken on July 21, 2022 shows farmers harvesting wheat in a field in Ankara, Türkiye. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Soaring greenhouse gas levels and accumulated heat have led to the warmest eight years on record, the World Meteorological Organization said last week.

Scientists point to the toll of human activity, caused by burning fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, for exacerbating extreme weather events.

“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues affecting the entire world. This is especially true for Türkiye due to its location. The Mediterranean Basin is becoming drier due to the effects of climate change,” Adil Tek stressed.

According to him, daily water economizing gestures are simple to address the growing problem.

“There needs to be a global change of mindset to address this burning issue, reducing both the carbon and water footprint in daily life and agricultural activity,” Tek said.  ■