Earth Equity News

Severe Drought Affects 1.3 Million in Syria. By Dania Akkad, CSMonitor, September 18, 2009. "The acute drought that has driven an estimated 300,000 Syrian farmers, herders, and their families to abandon home for makeshift urban camps may not be the worst in the region's history; the Fertile Crescent has often experienced cycles of drought. But now climate change, an exploitation of water resources, and higher food prices brought about by the global financial crisis have all severely sharpened the impact of this dry spell, now in its fourth year. The numbers of Syrians affected -- an estimated 1.3 million, 803,000 of whom have entirely lost their livelihoods -- point to a serious humanitarian crisis."