Iraq’s power grid has been fried by extreme temperatures exceeding 51C (123.8F), in a heatwave that’s forced authorities to step in as millions swelter.
Millions were left without power on Saturday as the electricity grid failed in the southern provinces of Basra, Dhi Qar and Maysan.
Reports of mass food spoilage and illness have forced authorities to take measures to keep the population safe due to the “noticeable rise in temperatures”.
This first video shows Iraqi people taking to streets and burning tires in Basra to protest
Local reports say residents were battling the heat by driving around their city for the sole purpose of using the air conditioner.
On Sunday morning, the governor of Dhi Qar province announced a public holiday for state employees would be extended until the religious festival of Muharram begins on Tuesday.
The Middle Eastern nation ranks fifth on the global list of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change — and it is now facing faster-rising temperatures than most.
The dire scene has seen southern marshes in the southern in Dhi Qar province dry up at a much faster rate, lining cracks for miles on end.
Weather forecasts indicated most of Iraq would experience temperatures of around 45C (113F) or higher this week, but the sudden spike has caught even the most experienced by surprise.
The electricity grid is not the only public service in trouble, with hospitals also under strain as they battle an influx of heatstroke cases.
Heatwaves have also crippled Europe this summer, bringing a number of nations to a halt
Faced with a historic drought and threatened by desertification, Spain is now rethinking how it spends its water resources, which are used mainly to irrigate crops.
“We must be extremely careful and responsible instead of looking the other way,” Spain’s Minister for the Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera said recently, about the impact of the lack of rain.
Like France and Italy, Spain has been gripped by several extreme heatwaves this summer after an unusually dry winter.
That has left the country’s reservoirs at 40.4% of their capacity in August, 20% points below the average over the last decade for this time of the year.
Officials have responded by limiting water use, especially in the southern region of Andalusia, which grows much of Europe’s fruits and vegetables.
Reservoir water levels in the region are particularly low, just 25% at most of their capacity.
“The situation is dramatic,” said University of Jaen hydrology professor Rosario Jimenez, adding both underground aquifers and surface bodies of water were running low.
In videos: A new eruption in Iceland at Meradalir, unrest at Iwo Jima
This week, a new volcanic eruption began in Iceland at Meradalir. The fissure eruption has already began to construct a cinder cone at a higher rate than witnessed in the 2021 eruption.
Meanwhile, in Japan, the Iwo Jima volcano and caldera produced a new series of explosive and shallow submarine eruptions.
And, also in Japan, another island volcano was placed on a heightened alert level due to seismic unrest.
This below video discusses these volcano related news stories:
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