Report: What is the reason for the worsening heat wave during Hajj?

2024-06-28 2024-06-28T13:27:16Z

Arabia Weather - A report issued by a team of European scientists said on Friday that the heat wave in Saudi Arabia, which caused the death of more than 1,300 people during the 2024 Hajj season , has been exacerbated by climate change caused by human activities.

Temperatures between June 16 and 18 reached 47 degrees Celsius, and at times exceeded 51.8 degrees Celsius in the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

Mecca Weather - Weather forecast in Saudi Arabia

Could temperatures have been lower in the 2024 Hajj season?

The "Climameter Weather" platform indicated in its analysis that temperatures could have been about 2.5 degrees Celsius lower were it not for the effects of climate change resulting from human activities.

According to CNN, Climatometer is making rapid assessments of the role of climate change in specific weather phenomena. Scientists have used satellite observations over the past 40 years to compare weather patterns from 1979 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2023.

Although high temperatures have been recorded for a long time in Saudi Arabia, scientists explained that natural changes do not explain the severity of the heat wave this month, and that climate change has made it more severe.

The assessments also revealed that similar temperature increases occurred in Saudi Arabia in May and July, but June is now witnessing more intense heat waves.

Climatologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, Davide Faranda, who participated in the Climatometer analysis, said:

“The deadly heat during this year’s Hajj season is directly linked to the burning of fossil fuels and has greatly affected the most vulnerable pilgrims.”

“The heat wave in Saudi Arabia is an extremely uncommon event, the characteristics of which can mostly be attributed to human-induced climate change,” the researchers concluded in their report.

Climate change has increased the intensity of heat waves, making them more frequent and longer. Previous findings by scientists from the World Weather Rehabilitation Initiative indicate that heat waves have become 1.2 degrees Celsius hotter on average globally compared to what they were before the industrial era. .