Climate change and displacements

Abstract

In late 2010, the New York Times reported that after four consecutive years of drought-the worst in 40 years-Syria's agricultural heartland, along with adjacent areas in Iraq, was in deep trouble: "Ancient irrigation systems have collapsed, underground water sources have run dry and hundreds of villages have been abandoned as farmlands turn to cracked desert and grazing animals die off. Sandstorms have become far more common, and vast tent cities of dispossessed farmers and their families have risen up around the larger towns and cities of Syria and Iraq.