Humans of Climate Change: The Farm Engineer

Üzeyir is an agricultural engineer living in Üzümlü, Turkey. We spoke when I visited in August of this year.

“In our work, we’re always discussing how the climate is changing. I had lessons on that in school, and this is one of the biggest issues in the world. But in our work, we deal most with the everyday, what is happening now. In 2014, we had a spring freeze and not one farm could produce even a kilogram of apricots…during June, July, and August, there was a drought and much of the harvest was lost, farmers couldn’t find water for irrigation…In 2015, there was another spring freeze. The people here have never experienced this previously. I expect that in the future, this area won’t be able to produce apricots anymore.”

Üzeyir asked that his full name be withheld for fear of workplace consequences.