Sharjah24 – AFP: Umm Mohammed, 74, waves a fan back and forth to cool down, but in the blistering heat of Iraq's southern city of Basra there is nothing but stiflingly hot air.
While Basra is used to scorching summers, this year it has started sooner than expected, bringing misery to residents in a city also plagued by chronic electricity shortages.
Just days into summer, the temperature in Basra has already soared to around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
Further north in the capital Baghdad, temperatures have already topped 50 Celsius -- in the shade.
Battered by decades of conflict that has sapped its infrastructure, Iraq is struggling with droughts, repeated sandstorms, desertification and a drop in some river levels.
Chronic power cuts are exacerbated in the summer, and only those who can afford private generators are able to keep their fridges or air conditioning units running.
In Basra, high humidity compounds the oppressive heat.
And with many Iraqis struggling to survive, spending around $105 dollars a month for a private generator is not an option.
Since mid-April, it has been battered by 10 sandstorms -- a product of intense drought, soil degradation, high temperatures and low rainfall linked to climate change.
The World Bank has warned that unless solutions are found, Iraq could lose 20 percent of its water resources by 2050 due to climate change.
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