As Iraq runs dry, a plague of snakes is unleashed  

Posted by Big Gav in

The Independent has a look at the side-effects of falling water levels in Iraq - As Iraq runs dry, a plague of snakes is unleashed.

Swarms of snakes are attacking people and cattle in southern Iraq as the Euphrates and Tigris rivers dry up and the reptiles lose their natural habitat among the reed beds.

"People are terrified and are leaving their homes," says Jabar Mustafa, a medical administrator, who works in a hospital in the southern province of Dhi Qar. "We knew these snakes before, but now they are coming in huge numbers. They are attacking buffalo and cattle as well as people." Doctors in the area say six people have been killed and 13 poisoned.

In Chabaysh, a town on the Euphrates close to the southern marshland of Hawr al-Hammar, farmers have set up an overnight operations room to prevent the snakes attacking their cattle.

The latest "Oilwatch Monthly" also mentions Iraq, showing that Iraqi oil production continues to rise.

4 comments

"Continues to rise"?

Were this a temp graph the climate change deniers would say that a peak was hit in the first quarter of 2008 and has started a vast downturn.

I'd suggest that there appears to be a plateauing for the moment. And that one can't predict the future based on only what is displayed here....

I think if you look at a graph over 20 years you'll find we are in a decent uptrend lately.

And Iraq has a lot of oil left.

How does Gulf War I and the Bush Debacle figure in to the rate of oil extraction?

Did we have a couple decades of low production/stockpiling due to political conditions or have there been massive new discoveries?

http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/11/iraqs-oil-greatest-prize-of-all.html

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