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Residents endure brutal conditions as record-breaking temperatures soar to 125 degrees: 'Extremely vulnerable'
May sizzled in the Middle East as the United Arab Emirates set back-to-back records for heat.
The mercury climbed to an incredible 51.6 degrees Celsius (nearly 125 degrees Fahrenheit) on May 24 in Sweihan, a town in the Al Ain Region of the United Arab Emirates, according to an AFP report. It was only about 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the hottest temperature recorded in the UAE since tracking began in 2003.
The temperature of 51.6 degrees Celsius in Sweihan and a measurement of 50.4 degrees Celsius (about 122.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in Abu Dhabi a day earlier both eclipsed the previous UAE record for May of 50.2 degrees Celsius (about 122.4 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the AFP report, which contains meteorology office information.
It's been a brutal year for extreme temperatures in the Middle East. The UAE also reported an average daily high of 42.6 degrees Celsius (about 109 degrees Fahrenheit) in April, a new record for the month.
A 2022 Greenpeace report titled "Living on the Edge" warned of the dangerous impact extreme heat would have on six countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. That report said the region was "extremely vulnerable" to the effects of an overheating planet, per
Individual temperature records do not indicate a trend on their own, but taken in the broader context of average warming over time, they can highlight a larger concern.
A recently released World Meteorological Organization report has forecasted continuing record-high global temperatures. "There is an 80% chance that at least one year between 2025 and 2029 will be warmer than the warmest year on record (currently 2024)," the report noted. "And there is an 86% chance that at least one year will be more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level."
This underscores how close the world is to breaching — at least for a single-year average — the long-term 1.5-degree Celsius target limit for warming established by the Paris Agreement, a global pact of 195 nations.
The WMO's warning shouldn't surprise anyone, since Earth has been running a fever for over a decade. Last year added to a streak: Each of the last 11 years ranks among the hottest ever recorded, and since only 2012, the U.S. has seen its eight warmest years, as Climate Central reported.
As NASA noted, "Scientific evidence continues to show that human activities (primarily the human burning of fossil fuels) have warmed Earth's surface and its ocean basins, which in turn have continued to impact Earth's climate." Therefore, one way to try to avoid the worst effects of extreme heat is to seek alternatives to burning fuels for energy.
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