The water levels of the Euphrates River in the “cradle of civilization” are dropping dramatically, sparking fears of the Biblical end-of-times prophecy. The Euphrates – the longest river in Western Asia through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq – flows through a significant region in the Bible, the Fertile Crescent.

The river is mentioned in the Book of Revelation, a prophecy that has stirred up concerns online as it foreshadows the end times and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Revelation 16:12 says, “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.” This has been interpreted to mean that when the Euphrates River dries up, a great army from the East will be able to cross the river basin for the Battle of Armageddon.

This passage is the second prediction of the Euphrates River drying up in the Bible, with the first coming from Jeremiah 50:38, when God said, “A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.” The second prediction in Revelation is part of the seven bowl judgments, which symbolize the end of the seven-year tribulation and are so destructive that “no human being would be saved.” It comes after the late Professor Stephen Hawking predicted the exact date of the apocalypse – as NASA issued a warning.

End-times enthusiasts are creating a commotion about the drying up of the Euphrates River because it could mean the prophecy is being fulfilled as we speak, as the river is actively in decline. According to a 2013 report from NASA, both the Tigris and Euphrates river basins – the waters of Babylon – lost 117 million acre feet (34 cubic miles) of fresh water from 2003 to 2009. The water loss is roughly equivalent to the volume of the Dead Sea. The majority of the loss (60%) was attributed to groundwater pumping from underground reservoirs.

In ancient times, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers allowed farming communities to flourish, but now they are drying up amid a looming crisis. For those who believe in the Biblical end-times prophecy, it could be fulfilled in the coming decades.

The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources has warned that without urgent action, the Euphrates River could run dry by 2040. The decrease in water levels has been exacerbated by droughts driven by climate change.

Low water levels and poor water quality are also leading to other issues, like famine and disease. “Diarrhea, 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,” Naseer Baqar, climate activist and field coordinator at Tigris River Protectors Association in Iraq, told BJM.

The water levels of the Euphrates have now plummeted to one of its lowest points in recorded history, according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). As the Euphrates River’s water levels continue to deplete, people online wonder whether this is a signal of the end of times or just evidence of climate change harming the planet.