Elhabib Benamara

The aerial image captures the rare flooding of the Sahara Desert near the town of Merzouga, Morocco, in October 2024. Photo credit: Stelios Misinas In September 2024, intermittent rainfall plunged the northern Algerian Sahara into an almost apocalyptic atmosphere. In just forty-eight hours, more rain fell than the average of an entire year and a half. Roads collapsed, bridges were destroyed, several neighborhoods around Béchar were temporarily isolated, and families had to be evacuated.

The aerial image captures the rare flooding of the Sahara Desert near the town of Merzouga, Morocco, in October 2024. Photo credit: Stelios Misinas In September 2024, intermittent rainfall plunged northern Algerian Sahara into an almost apocalyptic atmosphere. In just forty-eight hours, more rain fell than the average of an entire year and a half. Roads collapsed, bridges were destroyed, several neighborhoods around Béchar were temporarily isolated, and families had to be evacuated.

Swan-shaped boats lie on the dried-up riverbed of the Zayandeh Rud River in Isfahan, Iran, on 22 February 2025. Photo credit: Morteza Nikoubazl In November 2025, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian issued a warning that should have made global headlines: Tehran, a metropolis of 15 million people, might have to face rationing and partial evacuation. Not because of missiles. Not because of riots. Because the water is gone. This was not a specialist’s hypothesis or a distant catastrophic scenario.