Cyprus steps up desalination as worsening droughts parch the island

By Michele Kambas and Yiannis Kourtoglou

Saint Nicholas church in the hills above Limassol, normally submerged in the Kouris Reservoir, offers a stark glimpse of the worsening water crisis in Cyprus. The belfry is fully exposed and the building is surrounded by parched earth.

Lying at the far east of the Mediterranean, Cyprus has always lived with drought. But climate change has turned dry spells into a permanent challenge and