Climate Change in Iraq: A Comprehensive Analysis

Climate change is presently the most pressing and urgent global issue.Its potential consequences, such as the drying up of rivers, the submersion of vast coastal areas, and shifts in global agricultural production patterns, are so severe that they could have catastrophic impacts on humanity.Consequently, global environmental organizations have sounded the alarm, warning of the deteriorating global climate and the grave consequences of increasing carbon emissions.The primary objective of this research is to classify the root reasons of climate change in Iraq, explore potential mitigation strategies, and assess the resulting impacts of these changes.A comprehensive literature review was performed, including environmental reports, historical climate data, and previous studies on climate change in Iraq.Data analysis focused on temperature trends, rainfall patterns, and environmental consequences over the past decades.Our findings indicate that the escalation in temperatures and the reduction in rainfall levels owing to climate change have had a significant effect on water availability, decline in agricultural production, increase in poverty, deterioration of health conditions, decline in the tourism sector and escalation in the occurrence of dust storms.Temperatures across the country have risen sharply since the 1950s, with the average temperature during the period 1901-2021 increasing by approximately 2 degrees Celsius, even higher than the global average.Additionally, rainfall has shown a substantial and continuous decline, with projections indicating a reduction of more than 30% by 2100 compared to the 1938-1978 average.Climate change poses a serious threat to Iraq's sustainability.Immediate policy interventions, international cooperation, and sustainable environmental strategies are necessary to mitigate its adverse consequences.