Environmental Concerns
Natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms, floods
Environment - current issues: government water control projects have drained most of the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting the feeder streams and rivers; a once sizable population of Shi'a Muslims, who have inhabited these areas for thousands of years, has been displaced; furthermore, the destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations; inadequate supplies of potable water; development of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers system contingent upon agreements with upstream riparian Turkey; air and water pollution; soil degradation (salination) and erosion; and desertification.
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
- Major ecoregions:
- Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands (PA1303)
- Mesopotamian shrub desert (PA1320)
- Minor ecoregions:
- Zagros Mountains forest steppe (PA0446)
- Middle East steppe (PA0812)
- Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous broadleaf forests (PA1207)
- South Iran Nubo-Sindian desert and semi-desert (PA1328)
- Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh (PA0906)
- Red Sea Nubo-Sindian tropical desert and semi-desert (PA1325)
- Persian Gulf desert and semi-desert (PA1323)
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Iraq
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