Catching sight of a dense palm grove in Basra is no longer as easy as it was only a few decades ago. The city, long associated with palm trees, Shatt al-Arab, and expansive green spaces, has undergone profound changes over the past years that have transformed both its landscape and environment.
Satellite images of the same locations along both banks of Shatt al-Arab reveal the scale of this transformation. While images from the 1980s show dense belts of palm trees covering vast stretches of the riverbanks, more recent images appear less green and far drier, following the disappearance of large areas of trees that once informed part of the city’s identity and local climate.
The transformation has not just been visual. As orchard growth has declined and industrial and oil activity has expanded, the air has changed. In many parts of Basra, particularly those close to oil fields and industrial facilities, residents speak of suffocating odours, persistent dust, and respiratory problems that have become part of everyday life. In districts such as Al-Zubair, Al-Dair, Azz al-Din Salim, and Al-Madina, complaints about relentless emissions continue to mount, alongside growing concern over their long-term health effects.
For many residents, air quality indices are not needed to know that something has changed. Persistent coughing, shortness of breath, and the thin layers of dust that settle daily on household surfaces and cars have become familiar sights for many.
The consequences of these changes are even more apparent inside hospitals and medical clinics.
Dr Firas Al-Najm, a paediatrician at Al-Mawani Teaching Hospital, says there is a close link between air pollution and the rising incidence of respiratory diseases among children, noting that recent studies revealincreases of up to 40 per cent in some respiratory illnesses, including asthma, bronchial allergies, and lung infections.
He adds that most children under the age of five who attend clinics and hospitals suffer from respiratory disorders, in an environment where the effects of dust storms combine with vehicle emissions, electricity generators, and oil-related activities.
In Al-Dair district, Arshad Al-Qannas tells the story of losing his sister to cancer, which he attributes to emissions from oil fields located close to residential areas. While a direct link between individual cases and sources of pollution requires specialised scientific studies, similar stories emerge from the accounts of many families living near oil installations.
Nor are the accounts of residents and doctors based solely on personal observation.
According to a report by IQAir, Iraq ranked 11th among the world’s most polluted countries in terms of air quality in 2025, while concentrations of fine particulate matter exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limits by more than seven times.
Iraq ranked 11th among the world’s worst countries for air quality in 2025. Source: IQAir.
An academic study by Dr Israa Muwaffaq Rajab, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the College of Education, Al-Mustansiriya University, indicates that air pollution has become one of Iraq’s most complex environmental challenges due to the speed at which it spreads. Its impact is no longer confined to the areas where it originates but extends to neighbouring and even distant regions.
In Basra, the question is not whether pollution exists, but where it comes from.
How did a city once known for its palm groves and Shatt al-Arab become one of Iraq’s cities most burdened by polluted air?
Basra holds the answer beneath its soil.
According to a study by Rebin Samad Abdullah and Banaz Mohammed Zar of Erbil Polytechnic University, Basra contains 15 oil fields, including 10 producing fields, with reserves exceeding 65 billion barrels which is around 59 per cent of Iraq’s total oil reserves.
The study adds, Basra also produces around 3.35 million barrels of oil per day, accounting for approximately 79 per cent of the country’s total oil output.
The study identifies oil operations as one of the main sources of air pollution in Basra, particularly in areas surrounding the oil fields, where emissions are generated by extraction activities, associated gas flaring, and other processes linked to the oil industry.
A researcher at the University of Basrah agrees with this conclusion, explaining that Basra’s air pollution problem is not the result of a single factor, but rather the outcome of a complex interaction between oil activity, climatic conditions, and weak environmental infrastructure.
Speaking to Jummar, he says that oil extraction and associated gas flaring are the primary sources of fine particulate matter and toxic compounds, while high temperatures and harsh climatic conditions accelerate the chemical reactions that further degrade air quality.
He adds that Iraq’s economy depends almost entirely on oil revenues, making it far more complicated to address the environmental impacts of the oil industry by simply imposing fines or issuing regulations. The very source that finances the state is also the source responsible for a large share of the emissions residents complain about.
This is Basra’s paradox. The governorate that produces nearly four-fifths of Iraq’s oil—and generates much of the revenue on which the country depends—is also the governorate that researchers, doctors, and environmental activists identify as having oil operations at the heart of its air pollution problem.
More promises than solutions
The causes of air pollution in Basra are neither obscure nor unknown to the authorities. For years, environmental reports, academic studies, and residents’ complaints have consistently pointed to the principal sources of pollution, foremost among them associated gas flaring, oil operations, landfill sites, wastewater drainage canals, and vehicle emissions. However, identifying the problem has so far failed to produce a lasting solution.
Shukr Al-Ameri, Chairman of the Financial and Administrative Committee of the Basra Governorate Council, says pollution resulting from gas flaring and oil operations is among the governorate’s leading sources of air pollution, noting that the local government has spent recent years studying the causes of the problem through workshops and conferences involving specialists and experts.
He adds that the Governorate Council has submitted a recommendation to activate legal provisions imposing fines on companies that fail to comply with environmental standards, with the proceeds allocated to supporting public hospitals and cancer treatment centres.
He also points to a timetable prepared in coordination with Basra Oil Company and the Ministry of Oil, aimed at reducing pollution levels and cutting gas flaring during 2028 and 2029.
However, these government plans have done little to ease concerns in a governorate where the same complaints have been repeated for years. While the authorities speak of reducing emissions in the future, activists and experts argue that the effects of pollution are already evident in residents’ daily lives, and that the pace of action remains slower than the scale of the problem.
According to a study prepared by researcher Hanan Jameel Ashour for the Parliamentary Research and Studies Department, oil extraction operations remain among the leading sources of air pollution in Basra because of the emissions and carcinogenic chemicals associated with extraction and flaring.
At the same time, residents continue to speak of rising respiratory illnesses and growing fears over chronic diseases and cancer, amid a widespread sense that the promised improvements remain far from reality.
For civil society activist Ammar Sarhan, the issue is no longer merely about air quality indicators or scientific reports, but about what people witness every day in their neighbourhoods and hospitals.
He says oil flare stacks have become a permanent feature of the landscape surrounding the city, while the orchards that once gave Basra some measures of environmental balance have steadily disappeared. Residents feel they are paying for the governorate’s oil wealth with their health, he adds.
According to Mahdi Al-Tamimi, Director of the Basra office of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, the governorate has recorded very high levels of pollution in recent years, particularly in the city centre and areas surrounding oil facilities.
Speaking to Jummar, he says air quality readings frequently fluctuate between acceptable, poor, and unhealthy, adding that successive governments have made numerous promises to improve the environmental situation, yet those promises have not translated into tangible improvements on people’s lives.
Al-Tamimi points to another issue concerning air quality monitoring, noting that several of Basra’s environmental monitoring stations remain out of service. This is limiting the ability to monitor pollution accurately and continuously at a time when concerns over health impacts continue to grow.
The Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights identifies gas flaring, landfill sites, and polluted wastewater drainage canals as persistent sources of emissions, while health institutions continue to record a steady increase in respiratory diseases.
Caught between government plans, repeated promises, and studies warning of worsening pollution, the effects of the crisis are most apparent in the stories of families living near the oil fields. For Arshad Al-Qannas, who lost his sister after a battle with cancer, Basra’s air pollution crisis cannot be measured by air quality indices or emissions data, but by the people who are no longer here and the fears that continue to haunt thousands of families.
