Southern Iraq to face extreme temperatures
A market in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – For the fourth year in a row, Iraq, the fifth country most affected by climate change in the world according to the United Nations, is facing a drought because of the decline in rainfall and the rise in temperatures.
In July, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that the historic marshes region in southern Iraq is experiencing the hottest heat wave in 40 years and a severe decline in water levels.
The EU climate observatory Copernicus said that August was the hottest month ever in the world, the third month in a row to record the highest temperatures after June and July.
Estimates indicate that temperatures in August were 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature in the pre-industrial revolution period between 1850 and 1900.
The southern Iraqi governorate of Basra recorded half the boiling point last July, and it is the first city in the world with the highest temperature.
According to an analysis of climate data by Carbon Plan, a non-profit organization specializes in available climate data and analysis, the southern Iraqi city of Basra will be exposed to record heat over a period of 148 days in 2050, compared to 114 days in 2000.
The analysis showed that by 2050, more than five billion people will be exposed to at least a month of health-threatening extreme heat when outdoors in the sun, compared to four billion in 2030 and two billion in 2000.