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Why Iraq needs immediate action on climate change

Iraq is facing serious environmental challenges that require money, know-how and an attitude of urgency.
An Iraqi man walks past a canoe siting on dry, cracked earth in the Chibayish marshes near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on June 25, 2015. Marsh areas in southern Iraq have been affected since the Islamic State group started closing the gates of a dam on the Euphrates River in the central city of Ramadi, which is under the jihadist group's control. AFP PHOTO / HAIDAR HAMDANI        (Photo credit should read HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

BAGHDAD — Iraq faces many threats to its environment, not the least of which are apathy, a lack of education and a need for cooperation from other countries.

“Iraq is in dire need of environmental awareness. Environmental education is absent among the Iraqi people, whose dangerous behaviors are majorly affecting the environment," Nader Abdallah, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Babylon, told Al-Monitor.

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