The Bible suggests the world will end when this river dries up — and it’s happening now

Water levels across parts of the Euphrates have fallen dramatically in recent years (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

For a river, the Euphrates has developed a surprisingly dramatic reputation over the years.

Civilisations rose alongside it. Religions wrote about it. And the Book of Revelation is said to suggest that when it eventually dries up, the apocalypse will not be far behind.

So you can see why some folk are quite concerned, given scientists now think large parts of the giant river could disappear within decades.

It’s a turn of events that makes for pretty grim reading.

Climate scientists say worsening droughts are putting the historic river under growing pressure (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

The Euphrates runs through Turkey, Syria and Iraq, and is the longest river in Western Asia.

For thousands of years, it helped feed cities, water crops, and sustain and encourage trade routes across what is often known as ‘the cradle of civilisation’.

Large parts of formative human history basically set up camp around the body of water. Now though, researchers say it is shrinking fast.

Climate-driven droughts, rising temperatures, and an unrelenting demand for fresh water have created a perfect storm, potentially spelling the end for the basin in recent decades.

One recent warning suggested the Euphrates could effectively dry out by 2040 if conditions keep getting worse. This would be catastrophic for the millions of people who still rely on it every day for water and agriculture.

The Euphrates has supported towns, trade and entire civilisations for thousands of years (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

It’s also not brilliant news for anyone already nervous about world-ending biblical prophecies.

That’s because the book of Revelation vividly describes the river drying up before a final great conflict linked to Armageddon.

In fact, the Euphrates features heavily in the Bible. The ancient waterway appears in both Genesis and Revelation, two of the book’s more famous chapters.

One particularly dramatic verse in the end-of-times Revelation chapter describes the river drying up after an angel pours out one of the symbolic ‘seven bowls’ of judgment.

Researchers have warned that rising temperatures, climate change and relentless demand for freshwater are accelerating the crisis (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

The verse reads: ‘The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.’

For centuries now, scholars have argued over whether this passage from the New Testament should be taken literally or symbolically, or whether there is a happy (or, rather, unhappy) middle.

In the ancient world, the river acted as a major natural barrier against invading forces from the east, so the passage describes its disappearance as clearing the way for armies and rulers to advance toward a final conflict often associated with Armageddon. Here’s hoping that part’s wrong.

Beyond Biblical prophecies, the stats surrounding the river are alarming enough on their own. Studies conducted using satellite imaging suggest that the Euphrates River basin has lost more than 34 cubic miles of freshwater since 2003, Daily Mail reports.

The river still provides water for millions of people across a number of countries (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

After a major drought in 2007, water levels dropped sharply, and parts of the wider region never really and truly recovered.

A few years back, Jay Famiglietti, a hydrologist and professor at the University of California, Irvine, said: ‘The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought.

‘Meanwhile, demand for fresh water continues to rise, and the region does not coordinate its water management because of different interpretations of international laws.’

The crisis is already causing some pretty serious knock-on effects across Iraq, where access to clean water has become increasingly difficult in some areas.

It’s no longer just an environmental problem discussed in reports and conferences, either – it is affecting public health in very immediate and obvious ways.

A report published in the British Medical Journal found diseases linked to unsafe water are spreading as conditions worsen in Iraq.

Communities that once depended on the river are now tackling water shortages, pollution, and collapsing infrastructure all at once.

The Euphrates occupies a unique place in both human history and biblical tradition (Picture: REUTERS)

Naseer Baqar, a climate activist and field coordinator at the Tigris River Protectors Association in Iraq, told the BMJ: ‘Diarrhoea, chicken pox, measles, typhoid fever, and cholera are currently spreading across Iraq because of the water crisis, and the government no longer provides vaccines to its citizens.’

Long before climate scientists started monitoring the Euphrates from space, the river already occupied an important place in religious history. Genesis names it as one of the four rivers that are connected to the Garden of Eden.

According to the biblical account, Eden’s waters split into four rivers: the Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon and Gihon. The first two still exist today. The others seemingly vanished thousands of years ago.

And while social media has inevitably seized on the Revelation angle, scientists are focused on a more immediate threat.

One of the world’s most important rivers is shrinking in plain sight, and millions of people are already living with the consequences.

Comments Add as preferred source