Blaming Climate Change, Turkish Farmers Count the Cost of Drought

Men chat by the shores of partly dried-out waters near Alibeykoy Dam, north of Istanbul, Turkey September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
Men chat by the shores of partly dried-out waters near Alibeykoy Dam, north of Istanbul, Turkey September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
TT
20

Blaming Climate Change, Turkish Farmers Count the Cost of Drought

Men chat by the shores of partly dried-out waters near Alibeykoy Dam, north of Istanbul, Turkey September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo
Men chat by the shores of partly dried-out waters near Alibeykoy Dam, north of Istanbul, Turkey September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

Rain fell on Bicar Icli's fields in southeastern Turkey for the first time in eight months last week, but he and other farmers are already counting the cost of a drought they blame on climate change.

Icli has not been able to plant his winter wheat crops due to the parched soils. Unless there is more rain in the coming weeks, he fears it will be too late.

"There is a serious problem here in my opinion, there is a much greater risk than in previous years," said Icli, who has been working his fields in Diyarbakir province for five years.

As world leaders prepare to convene in Glasgow on Sunday for the UN COP26 climate summit, Icli's woes highlight the problems facing farmers in Turkey and elsewhere due to extreme weather linked to climate change.

In an effort to limit their financial losses, Suleyman Iskenderoglu said he and other farmers were trying to make savings by skipping on fertilizer, Reuters reported.

"How are we to produce under these conditions?" he said, as he looked over his sun-baked fields.

Besides the lingering drought, Turkey was hit by flash floods in its Black Sea region and massive wildfires in southern regions during the summer.

Environmentalists say climate change and aggressive farming methods have fuelled the risk of water shortages, which surfaced in late 2020 as official data showed water levels at dams had fallen to record lows due to a lack of rainfall.

At Diyarbakir's agricultural chamber, Chairman Abdulsamet Ucaman said farmers had seen their output fall by 60-70% this year from 2020.

"This has surpassed the level of concern, it is turning into a catastrophe," he said.

President Tayyip Erdogan said last week data indicated the country's usable water supplies would keep shrinking.

"Turkey is not a water-rich country," he said. "This data shows that our water potential, which we are already not rich in, will fall more in coming years."

Earlier this month, Ankara became the last member of the G20 major economies to ratify the Paris climate accord.

Icli said he feared action to tackle carbon emissions in line with the agreement would be too late.

"Turkey signed the Paris climate agreement, but what will happen now?" he said. "We destroyed nature ... so I don't see the meaning of the climate accord after that."



Delhi Bans Old Cars from Refueling to Help Tackle Pollution

Traffic passes by flowers in bloom at a roundabout in New Delhi, India, 25 February 2025. EPA/HARISH TYAGI
Traffic passes by flowers in bloom at a roundabout in New Delhi, India, 25 February 2025. EPA/HARISH TYAGI
TT
20

Delhi Bans Old Cars from Refueling to Help Tackle Pollution

Traffic passes by flowers in bloom at a roundabout in New Delhi, India, 25 February 2025. EPA/HARISH TYAGI
Traffic passes by flowers in bloom at a roundabout in New Delhi, India, 25 February 2025. EPA/HARISH TYAGI

Cars more than 15 years old will soon be barred from refueling in New Delhi, the city's government said Saturday, as part of measures to reduce the Indian capital's hazardous pollution levels.

New Delhi is regularly ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world and is blanketed in acrid smog each year.

The pollution is primarily blamed on agricultural burning by nearby farmers to clear their fields for ploughing, as well as factories and traffic fumes, AFP reported.

Cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds worsen the situation by trapping deadly pollutants each winter.

Diesel and petrol cars older than 10 and 15 years respectively are not allowed to ply on Delhi roads but many have been found flouting the rules.

Delhi's environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told reporters Saturday that the decision to stop fuel for the old cars was made at a "marathon meeting" on air pollution to "find out the diseases and its remedies".

"We have decided to stop giving fuel to vehicles more than 15 years old after March 31, 2025," he said.

He said "gadgets" would be installed at petrol pumps to identify such vehicles.

Sirsa said other decisions taken include turning barren land into "new forests" and getting university students involved in planting.

He also said the government would make it mandatory for high rises, hotels and Delhi airport to install anti-smog guns and gadgets to control pollution.

The public health crisis has grown steadily worse over the years and weeks-long school closures across the capital, aimed at shielding vulnerable children from the harmful air, are now an annual occurrence.

At the peak of the smog, levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- dangerous cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- surged to more than 60 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

Piecemeal government initiatives, such as partial restrictions on fossil fuel-powered transport and water trucks spraying mist to clear particulate matter from the air, have failed to make a noticeable impact.