Türkiye braces for one of hottest, driest summers: Expert

İZMİR

Amid the intensifying effects of climate change, Türkiye is poised to endure one of its hottest and driest summers, with an expert warning of increasing drought, extreme heat and critical threats to agriculture and water supplies.

Located in the Mediterranean Basin, the country experiences the effects of global warming at a rate significantly above the global average, according to Professor Dr. Şermin Tağıl, a faculty member in the Geography Department at Bakırçay University in the western province of İzmir.

In mid-March, the country experienced unseasonably warm days resembling summer, with record-breaking temperatures recorded in 13 provinces across the country. On March 15, İzmir saw temperatures climb to 31.1 degrees Celsius, the highest ever recorded in the city during March since 1938.

Yet in a dramatic reversal, the typically warm month of April brought winter-like conditions. Snowfall and adverse weather led to school closures in many provinces, with sub-zero temperatures and snow causing frost damage to various agricultural products.

Tağıl described these abrupt and intense weather shifts as “climate whiplash,” referring to the increasingly frequent swings between extreme conditions.

“On one side, scorching drought; on the other, destructive floods. Global warming intensifies such sharp climate transitions. Each sudden change shocks nature and catches human life unprepared,” she explained.

The expert further pointed to a persistent lack of precipitation that began in late 2024 and continued through the first quarter of this year, exacerbating the crisis. As dry and warm winter merged with spring as a result, the country is confronted by serious drought conditions, she noted.

Accordingly, severe, prolonged and critical drought continues to take hold of regions such as Central Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia and the Aegean. The worsening drought in these regions could lead to significant drops in agricultural yields and may cause serious problems in drinking water supply, Tağıl warned.

“Consecutive dry years since 2023 have weakened the soil and water resources’ ability to regenerate. This cumulative effect will be felt more acutely in the summer of 2025. Drought is no longer a past crisis — it is a present and future reality.”