Climate Chnage: Drought Hits Turkey’s Izmir Region

Drought has hit İzmir province in Turkey, which lies on the Aegean coast amid the climate change affecting the country.

The Mediterranean Basin, where Turkey is located, is getting drier due to the effects of anthropogenic climate change.

As a result, average temperatures are slowly creeping up and rainfall getting scarcer, thereby exacerbating the situation.

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change's General Directorate of Meteorology Meteorological said, "It was observed that one part of İzmir experienced a 'very severe drought' and the other part will experience a 'severe drought' soon."

With the effects of global climate change, the air temperature in İzmir was 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average compared to the previous years.

There was a significant decrease in the number of rainy days and the amount of rain per square meter in İzmir.

The average number of rainy days, which was 13 in December, decreased to 6-7 days.