Chris McGrath, a photographer with Getty Images, recently spent time in Turkey’s Konya province, where extreme drought conditions have been taking a heavy toll on farmers and the land. For farmers, the lack of rain gives them little option but to tap into the groundwater supplies to sustain their crops, forcing some to turn to installing illegal ground wells. However, the reliance on groundwater has seen underground water levels drop by more than two meters in the past five years, contributing to an increase in massive sinkholes across the province, worrying farmers as they spread closer to residential areas. The number of sinkholes in the region has doubled in the past year. Gathered below are images of some of the farmers and shepherds as they cope with the extremely dry conditions and unstable land.
Drought and Sinkholes Threaten Farmers in Turkey
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![An aerial view of an enormous sinkhole in an arid landscape]()
Read moreIn an aerial view, a massive sinkhole is seen on the outskirts of a village in Karapınar, Turkey, on June 3, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
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![A large sinkhole cuts into a road in a village.]()
Read moreA large sinkhole is seen cutting into a road in the village of Ekmekçi, Turkey, on June 3, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![A herd of sheep walks through a flat, dry landscape.]()
Read moreAn aerial view shows a shepherd leading his flock of sheep across drought-stricken grasslands on June 4, 2021, in Karapınar, Turkey. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![Four workers with hand tools tend to a large field.]()
Read moreSeasonal workers tend to a sugar-beet field on June 4, 2021, in Karapınar. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
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![A person sits on the ground beside a large sinkhole.]()
Read moreFetullah Arik, a geology professor, takes measurements next to a large sinkhole on June 3, 2021, in Karapınar. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![Two men work beside a pump and irrigation rig in a farm field.]()
Read moreIn Karapınar, farmer Cafer Ungor (left) and Ferhat Altintas add fertilizer to water at a farm's groundwater well on June 2, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![An aerial view of a dry landscape with an ancient volcanic cone in the foreground and a salty basin below it.]()
Read moreSalt covers part of the Meke Lake basin, which completely dried out in 2020 after years of receding water levels, photographed on June 4, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
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![A shepherd tends a flock of sheep in a dry field.]()
Read moreA shepherd watches over his flock of sheep while they graze in a failed crop field on June 2, 2021, in Karapınar. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![Wheat stands in a drought-stricken landscape.]()
Read moreWheat stands in a drought-stricken field on June 2, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![A flock of birds flies inside a large sinkhole.]()
Read moreA flock of birds flies inside a large sinkhole as geology professor Fetullah Arik inspects the site on June 3, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
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![A large, deep hole sits just outside a small village.]()
Read moreIn an aerial view, a massive sinkhole is seen on the outskirts of a village in Karapınar on June 3, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![Two people take measurements in a three-foot-deep sinkhole.]()
Read moreGeology professor Fetullah Arik (right) and geologist Arif Delikana take measurements and inspect a sinkhole on June 3, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![An aerial view of a worker in a sugar-beet field]()
Read moreIn an aerial view, a seasonal worker tends to a sugar-beet field in Karapınar on June 4, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
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![A sinkhole is seen cutting into a village road.]()
Read moreA sinkhole is seen cutting into a road in the village of Ekmekçi on June 3, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![A shepherd leads his flock of sheep across a dusty field.]()
Read moreA shepherd leads his flock of sheep across drought-stricken grasslands on June 4, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![An overhead view of a deep sinkhole]()
Read moreIn an aerial view, a large sinkhole is seen in a field in Karapınar, Turkey, on June 3, 2021. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
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