Climate change created an extra six weeks of dangerous heat for the average person in 2024, and fuelled more prolonged heatwaves in most of the Middle East, scientists revealed on Friday.
People typically endured 41 more days of extreme heat than they could expect in a world without global warming, according to calculations by researchers at World Weather Attribution and Climate Central. In the Middle East, the number of “risky heat days” rose to 70 in Saudi Arabia, 67 in Egypt and 50 in the UAE. Risky heat days are those that hit unusually high temperatures by the standards of recent decades.
On one sweltering day – Sunday, July 21 – more than five billion people were enduring conditions that were once only half as likely. Climate scientists called heatwaves a “silent killer” that catch people by surprise because of unseasonal conditions, a lack of early warning systems and a less dramatic “trail of destruction” than storms or wildfires.
They said 2024 was the first year in which temperatures were 1.5°C higher than in pre-industrial times, a key benchmark in the fight against climate change. One year does not mean the world has failed to limit global warming to 1.5°C because the target refers to a long-term average, but the report called it a “warning that we are getting dangerously close”.
“Virtually every heatwave has been made hotter and more likely because of climate change,” said the report, When Risks Become Reality: Extreme Weather In 2024. “This signal is so clear and so widespread that in many parts of the world we no longer need individual attribution studies to say this with confidence.”
The El Nino effect, which naturally warms the Pacific Ocean and influences meteorological conditions around the world, was another factor behind 2024's extreme events. But researchers said climate change played a bigger role and “increasingly overrides other natural phenomena affecting the weather”.
During 2024, Saudi Arabia said more than 2,500 Hajj pilgrims suffered heat exhaustion in 51.8°C temperatures, while the Paris Olympics and football's Africa Cup of Nations took place in sweltering heat. In April, doctors in Mali reported a surge in excess deaths as temperatures climbed to nearly 50°C. Hot seas and warmer air were also blamed for fuelling more destructive storms, including Hurricane Helene and Typhoon Gaemi, and downpours in the UAE and in North America.
Vulnerable nations in the Caribbean and the Pacific topped the table of “risky heat days”, with a typical person in Nauru facing 173 days of extreme conditions, almost half the year. Most Middle East countries were above the 41-day global average, as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Qatar saw eight to 10 extra weeks of unusual heat.
Days classified as “risky” were those that people would consider hot based on their local experience, defined as temperatures that would have been in the warmest 10 per cent from 1991 to 2020. In cooler Europe, three to four weeks of unusual heat were typical – in countries such as Britain, Germany and France.
Scientists said early warning systems were one of the cheapest and most effective ways to cut heat deaths. Although most extreme weather is well forecast, warnings should be targeted, given days ahead of dangerous conditions, and give clear instructions on what people need to do, they said.
“People don’t have to die in heatwaves. But if we can’t communicate convincingly: ‘but actually a lot of people are dying’, it’s much harder to raise this awareness,” said Friederike Otto, an Imperial College London scientist who jointly runs World Weather Attribution. “Heatwaves are by far the deadliest extreme event, and they are the extreme events where climate change is a real game changer.”
Results:
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: Eghel De Pine, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Sheaar, Szczepan Mazur, Saeed Al Shamsi
6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA) Group 3 Dh500,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Torch, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,600m | Winner: Forjatt, Chris Hayes, Nicholas Bachalard
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 1,400m | Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Ridha ben Attia
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Qader, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roaulle
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Oppenheimer
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Nolan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECillian%20Murphy%2C%20Emily%20Blunt%2C%20Robert%20Downey%20Jr%2C%20Florence%20Pugh%2C%20Matt%20Damon%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E5%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
