“You cannot move outside for more than a few minutes.” literally feels life-threatening and apocalyptic,” says Nigel Tapper, professor of environmental science at Melbourne’s Monash University, of the 48C recorded in parts of the city. Even walking outside can feel oppressive at higher temperatures. Heat is also why Japanese politicians are now debating whether to introduce daylight saving time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics so that marathon and racewalk athletes can start at what is currently 5am and avoid mid-afternoon temperatures that recently started to pass 40C with humidity of more than 80%.Īt the Australian open in Melbourne this year – when ambient temperatures reached 40C – players were staggering around like “punch-drunk boxers” due to heatstroke. Fifa is so concerned about conditions that it has moved the final from summer to a week before Christmas. literally feels life-threatening and apocalyptic Professor Nigel Tapperįootball supporters probably cannot expect such treatment at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, and many may add to the risks of hyperthermia and dehydration by taking off their shirts and drinking alcohol. Thousands of fans already cool the marble floors and carpets, while police on horseback spray the crowds with water. Air conditioners weighing 25 tonnes have been brought in to ventilate four of the biggest tents.
SCORCH MARKERS INSTALL
Last year, traditionalists were irked by plans to install what are reportedly the world’s biggest retractable umbrellas to provide shade on the courtyards and roof of the Great Mosque. On current trends, it is only a matter of time before temperatures exceed the record 51.3C reached in 2012.
At Quriyat, on the coast of Oman, overnight temperatures earlier this summer remained above 42.6C, which is believed to be the highest “low” temperature ever recorded in the world.Īt Mecca, the two million hajj pilgrims who visit each year need ever more sophisticated support to beat the heat. Kuwait City and Doha have experienced 50C or more in the past decade. Basra – population 2.1 million – registered 53.9C two years ago. Several cities in the Gulf are getting increasingly accustomed to such heat. Hajj pilgrims in Mecca are sprayed with cool water.Infrastructure would be crippled and ecosystem services would start to break down, with long-term consequences.” Road surfaces started to melt, neighbourhoods went quiet because people didn’t go out and water vapour rose off the ground like a desert mirage,” he recalls. In neighbouring India two years earlier, the town of Phalodi sweltered in 51C – the country’s hottest ever day.ĭev Niyogi, professor at Purdue University, Indiana, and chair of the Urban Environment department at the American Meteorological Society, witnessed how cities were affected by extreme heat on a research trip to New Delhi and Pune during that 2015 heatwave in India, which killed more than 2,000 people. Earlier this year, the 1.1 million residents of Nawabshah, Pakistan, endured the hottest April ever recorded on Earth, as temperatures hit 50.2C. Not long ago, 50C was considered an anomaly, but it is increasingly widespread. A motorcyclist is sprayed with water in Karachi.But this protection weakens if there is already moisture in the air. In dry conditions, sweat – the body’s in-built cooling system – can lessen the impact. Human cells start to cook, blood thickens, muscles lock around the lungs and the brain is choked of oxygen. Deaths rise.Īt 50C – halfway to water’s boiling point and more than 10C above a healthy body temperature – heat becomes toxic. The elderly, the obese and the sick are most at risk. Hospitals see a surge in admissions for heat stress, respiratory problems and other illnesses exacerbated by high temperatures. Road surfaces started to melt … Dev Niyogi, American Meteorological Society But eventually lethargy sets in as the body shuts down and any prolonged period spent outdoors becomes dangerous.
Appetites tend to fade as the body avoids the thermal effect of food and tempers are quicker to flare – along, perhaps, with crime and social unrest. The temperature is recalibrating behaviour. Power grids are overloaded by cooling units. But the novelty quickly faded when relentless sunshine became the norm. Maybe in the beginning, when it was just a hot spell, there was a boom in spending as delighted consumers snapped up sunglasses, bathing suits, BBQs, garden furniture and beer. Melting asphalt cause road markings to distort in New Delhi.
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