The impact of climate change on the number of frosty nights and ice days at some stations in the mountainous region of Iraq for the period 1992-2024

Abstract

The research aims to study the impact of climate change on the change in the frost night index and the ice days index in some stations in the mountainous region of Iraq for the period 1992-2024, based on daily data for minimum and maximum temperatures، The frost night index was determined by calculating the daily minimum temperatures recorded from 0°C and below، and calculating the frost day index from the daily maximum temperatures from 0°C and below, after determining the general trend of change in the two indices during the months from November to April It was found that there is a general trend towards a decrease in   the number of days of frost nights and ice days in all stations of the study area as a result of climate change، with variation in the rates of change between stations as a result of their local conditions and the effect of the altitude factor. The ice days index recorded a greater change as a result of the rise in maximum temperatures، When calculating the correlation between the frosty nights index and minimum temperatures and the frosty days index and maximum temperatures, a strong inverse correlation was found; When subjected to statistical testing, all correlations, both monthly and seasonal, were found to be significant, indicating that the upward change in daily minimum and maximum temperatures affected the decline in the number of days with frosty nights and icy days in the mountainous region of Iraq