Well the article referenced does say:<p><i>The authors acknowledge that many factors led to Syria&#x27;s uprising, including corrupt leadership, inequality, massive population growth, and the government&#x27;s inability to curb human suffering.<p>But their report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, compiled statistics showing that water shortages in the Fertile Crescent in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey killed livestock, drove up food prices, sickened children, and forced 1.5 million rural residents to the outskirts of Syria&#x27;s jam-packed cities—just as that country was exploding with immigrants from the Iraq war. (Related: &quot;Half of Syrians Displaced: 5 Takeaways From New UN Report.&quot;)</i>