On the bad days, when the chimneys make much noise so intensely that the windows vibrate, families say thick smoke appears in the air, killing plants and dusting everything to volcanic grey. For many years now, this has been the stale life of people in Iraq, where air pollution is at its all-time high.
Great Contributor to the Climate Crisis
For the residents of Nahran Omar, a town in southern Iraq that is next to some oil wells, the flames coming from the towers, ejecting chemicals that are toxic into the air, are their everyday reality. This disputed flaring practice - burning excess gas manufactured during the oil extraction - is a great contributor to the climate crisis, scientists say, but also a dangerous threat to those who live close by.
The pollutants discharged have been connected to skin and lung diseases, asthma, and cancer. Iraq is among the biggest lawbreakers in the world for flaring, and Basra, which is a province in which Nahran Omar is sited, is the most affected region in the country.
Sponsored by a Supporter Programme, The Independent spoke to residents who warn that the action is killing the weak and the fit, children and the elderly. Though it's difficult to prove a direct connection between specific illnesses and the flares, there has been a 50 percent increase in the rate of cancer over the last decade, according to the mayor of the town, who reveals there are as many as 150 cases within the 1,600-strong community.
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Effects of the Poisoned Cloud
43-year-old Muhammed Hassan, whose 14-year-old son has bone marrow cancer, tells The Independent: "When I went to see the doctor with my son, whose spine was bent and skin was pale, he asked me where I stay. I said, 'Nahran Omar,' and he said, 'You don't have to say more. I am aware this is due to the pollution."
Holding a picture of his son, whose body is painfully folded in a wheelchair, he says he is more disturbed than ever this year due to the pandemic. A current report by the European Society of Cardiology evaluates that 15 per cent of deaths due to coronavirus are associated with pollution of air. He said the immune system of his son is compromised already by his treatment, which is so agonizing that his son pleaded with him to let him die.
Myriad Health Problems
"Everybody in the family wants to survive. We are so disturbed about our health," he added. Against the deafening sound and astonishing heat of the towers, Basheer al-Jabari, the mayor, says most of the town suffers some type of sickness.
His own sister is one of those that have cancer. Across the country, the sky at night is brightened by flare stacks, which discharges greenhouse gases like methane and also local air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and soot, that led to myriad health problems.
According to the latest data of World Bank, Iraq burns just more than 17 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
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