Assessing Climate Sensitivity to Urban Land-Use Changes in Iraq

Abstract

Iraq has been suffering from a continuing rise in surface air temperature, causing a general deterioration in ecosystems. land-use climate sensitivity focuses on how changes in land cover (e.g., deforestation, urbanization, or agricultural expansion affect local or regional climate conditions, particularly surface temperatures. Using yearly data on built-up areas and air temperature over the period (1971–2022), this sensitivity is assessed based on alterations in built-up areas for three Iraqi cities—Basrah, Baghdad, and Mosul—as well as for the entire country of Iraq. The time series of the areal yearly averages for air temperatures was analyzed. The results revealed that the trend in Iraq has positively increased, with a value of 0.07 °C/year. The results also illustrate that alterations in built-up areas have contributed to increased yearly temperature in Basrah and Baghdad, but not in Mosul, which appears to be more affected by global warming.