Legendary Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Face Extinction, Threatening Millions

Two legendary rivers that have been the lifeblood and the cradle of great civilisations in the Middle East for thousands of years are now on the brink of collapse. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers are projected to dry up completely within the next few decades due to the onslaught of extreme climate change and a drastic decline in water discharge. The area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is recognised by archaeologists as the birthplace of the first civilisation on earth. From this fertile land emerged magnificent ancient cities such as Uruk and Babylon, a region that now encompasses modern-day Iraq. The phenomenon of the shrinking river flow has attracted public attention because it is often linked to a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad popular among Muslims. In that narration, the drying up of the Euphrates River is cited as one of the signs that the Day of Judgement is drawing near. ‘The Hour will not come to pass before the River Euphrates dries up to reveal a mountain of gold, for which people will fight and kill one another.’ (Sahih Muslim 2894). As the largest river system in Western Asia, the Euphrates flows through three countries—Turkey, Syria, and Iraq—before finally emptying into the Persian Gulf. Together with the Tigris River, this area once formed the most fertile expanse in the region. However, that glory is now threatened with extinction. An official 2021 report from Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources issued a stark warning: the river system is at risk of running completely dry by 2040. A drastic drop in water levels and prolonged drought disasters due to global climate change are the main culprits behind the decline in water discharge. Data shows that the volume of water flow in the Euphrates-Tigris system has fallen by nearly half in just a few decades. Furthermore, satellite monitoring recorded that 144 cubic kilometres of fresh water vanished over a ten-year period, from 2003 to 2013. The impact of this threat is immense. Currently, at least 60 million people depend on the water supply from the Euphrates-Tigris system for their survival, particularly communities living in Turkey and Iraq. This water crisis has the potential to trigger a humanitarian catastrophe and severe economic turmoil in the region if not addressed immediately.