Dubai residents often travel to colder climates during the warmer months, but those who stay longer spend their time sliding between air-conditioned areas — or relying on supply drivers for a wide range of services.
Dubai: Gulf cities such as Dubai are known for their hot summers, but experts warn that climate change may soon be unpopular in parts of the oil-rich region.
In coastal metropolis, daily temperatures rise to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for several months of the year and worsen with high humidity.
“I work in this heat from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm,” says Pakistani scooter Samer.
“Sometimes the company or people give us water to drink, and we get a break every three hours,” added Samer, who works for the mobile messaging app and declined to give his name.
A new report by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (ICC) shows that the climate is changing faster than expected this month and is undoubtedly due to human activity.
Even now, Dubai residents often go in colder climates during the warmer months, but many who spend most of their time wandering around air-conditioned areas — or relying on supply drivers for more services.
The United Arab Emirates is also one of the driest countries in the world, and for many years it has used drones to create artificial rain clouds.
As climate change progresses, one expert warns of regional dangers.
Elfati Eltahir, a professor of hydrology and climate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says:
At the end of this century, with high temperatures and humidity, some parts of the Gulf have been warned of “extreme heat stress.”
– ‘Home Call’ –
He added: “That doesn’t always happen. It happens once or twice every seven years.”
If the human body cannot cool down by sweat, the combination of heat and relative humidity can be deadly.
Scientists say that in the shade of unlimited drinking water, a healthy adult will die if the temperature of the bulb (TW) is above 35C for six hours.
It has long been thought that this theoretical threshold will never pass, but US researchers reported last year at two locations – one in the United Arab Emirates and the other in Pakistan – that the 35C TW hurdle was broken more than once, if at all.
Calls to reduce carbon emissions are a major economic challenge for oil and gas-rich Gulf states to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that fossil fuels are destroying the planet.
But in recent years, some Gulf states have taken the green light as they try to improve their environmental credentials and keep their economies afloat.
Dubai-based Earth Affairs Consulting Managing Director Tanzeid Alam, for his part, said interest in the region was growing and climate change was affecting the United Arab Emirates.
But we have not yet seen the big family-owned businesses take this issue to the forefront of their business models, ”he told AFP.
He said they often do not understand how the world can cope with rising temperatures, storms, floods and other physical influences.
He expressed hope that the UN report would be a “wake-up call.”
– ‘Clear Decisions’ –
The United Arab Emirates aims to increase its dependence on clean energy by 50% by 2050 and to reduce its carbon footprint by 70%.
Abu Dhabi, one of the country’s seven emirates, says it will build the world’s largest single power plant.
When fully operational, the Al Dafra solar project will have the capacity to reach 160,000 households nationwide, according to WAM State News Agency. A.D. It is planned to start work in 2022.
In Bahrain, where average summer temperatures range from 35C to 40C, Mohammed Abdalla’s security company uses solar technology to cool water tanks.
He said demand has increased in many Gulf countries this summer, allowing the region to produce enough “clean, sustainable, low-cost energy”.
Bahrain Neighboring Saudi Arabia has plans to grow its oil-based economy, according to state media. By 2030, it has launched a campaign to generate half the energy from renewable energy.
Khalid al-Falih in Kuwait has expressed concern about the effects of climate change on the country.
A person who wants to work in Kuwait today cannot do so after 6:00 pm, and leaving home means being in an air-conditioned car to get to the airport. He told AFP.
According to state media, the country has a 15% renewable energy target by 2030, as it is almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels.
Falih urged his family to work only on solar energy and urged the government to make “clear decisions” to fight climate change.
The idea of being able to escape the reality of global warming is “impossible,” Falih said.