Ecological and Health Emergencies in Iraq

Environmental and public health issues affecting communities in Iraq include impacts of climate crisis, ranging from flooding to droughts and increasingly extreme heat; water quality issues and the threat of water shortages, driven by upstream construction of dams and lack of coordination in water management across the Mesopotamian region; high levels of plastic waste choking the waterways; air pollution and respiratory diseases from the concentration of oil industry sites in southern Iraq; and toxic remains of war including depleted uranium that causes birth defects.