A new study revealed how the Persian Gulf will become too hot for humans to live in, due to the deadly effects of climate change. The study also says that cities such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Doha and Qatar along with coastal cities in Iran, will experience extreme heat waves beginning 2070 when climate trends continue.
According to authors of the study, Jeremy Pal and Elfatih Eltahir from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), these new results reveal a specific regional hot spot that is targeted by climate change, severely affecting human habitats from these impacts, without any significant carbon cuts.
Right now, the Middle East is already struggling with extreme weather patterns where a recent heat wave in the gulf caused temperatures to rise to 122 degrees last summer. However, the study believes that lessening greenhouse gas emissions can prevent this hellish climate for humans to dwell in.
Eltahir explains that the team is now hoping that this information can be somehow helpful in cutting down carbon emissions across all countries in the affected region. He also said that Middle East leaders also possess a sincere interest in supporting these preventive measures to reduce harmful carbon concentrations in the future.
During this study, scientists utilized standard climate computer models to predict extreme weather conditions that might happen in the future. The team predicts that Kuwait City will suffer from 140 degree temperatures.
The study also cautioned how events such as the Hajj which is an annual pilgrimage of Muslims to the Mecca in Saudi Arabia, will become hazardous to human health especially for elderly pilgrims. Researchers also add that these extreme climate conditions can also lead to a rise of premature deaths of the weakest humans, namely children and the elderly.
Wealthy Middle East nations would react to these extreme heat conditions by turning up their air conditioning usage however, poorer nations like Yemen are more likely to suffer the heat.
According to Christoph Schär from the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science in Zurich, this new study is now clearly showing these threats to human health from climate change impacts, which are more severe than first thought, that will occur within this century.
This new study is published in the journal, Nature Climate Change.