Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq may be entering one of its shortest winters in decades as unseasonably warm weather continues across the country, the Green Iraq Observatory warned on Wednesday.

In a statement, the observatory noted that while winter has officially begun, daytime temperatures remain unusually high and nights are only mildly cooler, attributing the trend to accelerating climate change and calling for urgent mitigation efforts to restore Iraq’s traditional October-to-April winter.

With no sustained cold spells recorded, the watchdog expects winter could end as early as February or March, raising public concern that future seasons may shrink even further.

The warning comes as Iraq is undergoing a deeper climate shift impacting water supplies, land use, and rural livelihoods, with a 2024 Environment Ministry report showing a 10% drop in annual rainfall over the past two decades and national water reserves plummeting from 60 billion cubic meters in 2020 to just 10 billion today.

Read more: Iraq’s climate collapse: A nation at risk

Temperatures, rising at nearly 0.5°C per decade, are worsening drought, accelerating desertification, and placing severe pressure on agriculture, while cloudless skies have further reduced rainfall and left reservoirs near critical lows.

The prolonged dry conditions have also devastated livestock, with a parliamentary committee estimating 70% of herds lost, eroding food security and forcing many families to abandon herding and farming altogether.

Analysts suggest Iraq may be transitioning toward a simplified climate marked by long, extreme summers and increasingly brief, mild winters, warning that without rapid adaptation, the country’s ability to manage water, sustain agriculture, and maintain social stability will face mounting strain.

Read more: Climate change emerges as a national security threat in Iraq