Iraq sees early summer with 49˚C in the south
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq's national meteorological center said that temperatures in the southern city of Basra surpassed 49 degrees Celsius (more than 120 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, bringing in summer early this year.
According to the EU's climate monitor, the world's temperatures remain near-record peaks this year, prolonging an extraordinary heat wave that began in 2023.
The spokesperson for Iraq's national meteorological center, Amer Al-Jabiri, told AFP that it is the highest temperature measured in Iraq in 2025.
Al-Jabiri explained that the heat this year is different than the previous year, when the temperature was quite mild in May and started to get higher in June.
In Iraq, summer temperatures often surpass 50 degrees Celsius, especially during July and August, and occasionally reach these extreme levels even earlier in the season.
According to officials, two cadets died on Sunday, while others were hospitalized with heatstroke at a military college in the southern Iraqi province of Dhi Qar.
According to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, nine cadets showed signals of tiredness from sun exposure while waiting to be assigned to battalions.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, ordered the relevant authorities to investigate the deaths of the two cadets.
According to the United Nations, Iraq is one of the five countries that would be most affected by climate change. It has also experienced extended drought as well as regular dust storms.
While the region of Maysan is accustomed to hot summers, Mustafa Hashem, an environmental activist and daily laborer, said the heat began earlier than expected this year.
Hashem added that one of his coworkers fainted as they were maintaining cooling equipment on the roof of a building.
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