UN Official: Extreme Heat in Iraq Signals Start of "Global Boiling Era"

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk pointed out today, Wednesday, that the extreme summer heat and pollution in southern Iraq during his visit indicate that the "global boiling era" has begun. Turk stated at a press conference in Baghdad, "Standing in this scorching heat and breathing in the polluted air due to many gas flares scattered in the area, it has become clear to me that the global boiling era has indeed started." He emphasized that "what is happening here is a window into a future that is now approaching other parts of the world if we continue to fail in our responsibility to take preventive and mitigating action against climate change." Turk's comments came at the end of a four-day visit to Iraq, during which he met with several leaders and toured various parts of the country, where temperatures at times reached 50 degrees Celsius. The Ministry of Water Resources reported that "water levels this year have reached their lowest recorded levels." The United Nations noted that Iraq is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world. The decline in rainfall, along with poor water resource management, has led to ongoing drought for years. Water levels in Iraq’s two main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, have dropped to levels insufficient to sustain the agriculture that once thrived along their banks.