As a world record Record temperatureEssam Gneidi, an Egyptian citizen who makes a living washing cars in one of the hottest parts of the planet, the UAE, seems to have a very intense summer this year.

“This summer is a bit tougher than other years,” said Junaidi, who washes cars for 25 dirhams ($6.80) every day in temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius.

He added, “We cannot work between 12 noon to 3 pm or 3:30 pm.

In the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the United Nations Climate Summit (COP28) this year, the world is used to unbearable summers as it tries to step up its response to a warming climate.

During this period, the streets are deserted and the only people roaming around are migrant workers, who are cheap labour. Many workers have mandatory rest periods during the hottest hours of the day.

The same is true across the Gulf. In Bahrain, the July average temperature may break the record of 42.1 degrees Celsius recorded in 2017.

Two weeks ago, more than 1.8 million Muslims performed the Hajj ritual in Saudi Arabia as temperatures reached 48 degrees Celsius, while thousands were treated for heat exhaustion.

Experts have warned that temperatures in Kuwait, the world’s hottest ever recorded, could exceed 50 degrees Celsius in the coming weeks.

The perceived temperature is 60°C

Last week ranked as the warmest globally, and a wave of moisture is choking the Gulf region.

Ahmed Habib, a meteorologist at the National Meteorological Center in the Emirates, told Agence France-Presse: “For the past week, the temperature has been somewhat high and it has been between 45 and 49 degrees Celsius in the interior. Temperatures are higher (than average) which makes people wonder if the perception of temperature is higher.”

He added, “The reason for the perception of higher temperatures is an increase in relative humidity, that is, the amount of water vapor. Higher humidity, combined with already higher temperatures, gives the impression that the temperature is higher than it actually is.”

He explained: “The air mass coming from the Oman Sea or from the Arabian Gulf is loaded with water vapor through the financial flats, and this thing generally increases the level of humidity in the country. The temperature reaches more than 55 or even 55 to 60 degrees Celsius in some areas.” “.

The intense heat and high humidity in the Gulf is a dangerous combination. In such conditions, the human body struggles to cool itself by evaporating the sweat from the skin.

Habib said, “We are advising citizens to change fluids and stay away from direct sunlight.”

The Gulf region is one of the few places that has repeatedly recorded temperatures above 35°C on the corpuscular bulb thermometer, a heat stress beyond the human survival limit that can be fatal within hours regardless of age, health and fitness.

For this reason, experts warn that rapid climate change could make parts of the Gulf region uninhabitable by the end of this century.

In Kuwait, meteorologist Isa Ramadan said, “It is noticeable that the temperature has increased over the past year.

“From the middle of the month to August 20, there is expected to be a significant rise in temperature, which will exceed 50 degrees Celsius in the shade,” he told AFP.

On the other hand, according to the official weather forecast, humidity may reach 90 percent in Bahrain by the end of the week, with maximum temperatures ranging from 42 to 44 degrees Celsius.

“Our work is difficult.”

According to Barak Al-Ahmad of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Dominique Roy of Climate Research, if climate warming is left unchecked, temperatures in the Gulf are expected to rise to catastrophic levels.

In Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, if global temperatures rise by 3 degrees Celsius, the number of days with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius will increase by 98% by 2100, according to findings released in June by rights group Vital Sciences. He works on the deaths of migrant workers in the Gulf.

The results show that a 3°C temperature increase would see Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia see 180 days a year, with temperatures exceeding 40°C by the end of the century.

“These conditions can seriously affect human societies in ways we’re only beginning to understand,” Al-Ahmad told Vital Signs.

Scorching heat and humidity seriously affect the daily lives of many in the Gulf, with thousands of motorcyclists from South Asia criss-crossing its cities delivering food and other packages.

“Our profession is difficult,” one of them, Egyptian citizen Mohammed Raghab, told AFP on a Dubai street.

“We always try to avoid direct sunlight,” he added.

France 24/AFP