29 October 2024

A rare downpour in Morocco's southeastern desert has returned lakes and ponds to an area previously populated for approximately 20 years only by parched dunes.

It's a mixed blessing, unfortunately.

Last year was Morocco's driest in 80 years—a 48 percent drop in rainfall—and the North African kingdom has also been dealing with its worst drought in 40 years.

But as welcome as the rainfall has been to Morocco's economically crucial agriculture sector, the resulting floods have killed at least 28 people.

"Everything suggests this is a sign of climate change," Fatima Driouech, a Moroccan climate scientist, told AFP. "But it's too early to say definitively without thorough studies."

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