Things are certainly hotting up in the UAE, with meteorologists forecasting temperatures of up to and even above 50°C this week.
As this article notes, forecasters have said that the mercury could climb as high as 52°C in the remote Abu Dhabi desert area of Al Quaa.
Al Ain is expected to be almost as scorching, with a likely high of 49°C.
As Nick Webster highlights in this piece, the high temperatures could have health implications, with doctors warning of the risk of dehydration.
If 52°C is reached, it would represent a record as the hottest May day on record in the UAE, exceeding the 51.6 °C in Sweihan, near Al Ain, last year.
While it can be hard to link an individual spell of hot weather to climate change, the Gulf region is getting hotter, with more extremes of weather being recorded.
The World Meteorological Organisation has reported that temperatures in the Arab world are rising twice as fast as the global average and, the organisation’s secretary-general, Celeste Saulo, said in December, it is facing “intense heatwaves that are pushing society to the limits”.
A number of climate experts warned earlier this year that the region was facing a growing threat from high temperatures.
Wealthier nations such as the UAE may be better able to deal with the impacts of extreme temperatures, but that may not be the case in poorer parts of the Mena region.
Just as the UAE has seen the mercury rise to summer-like highs earlier than usual, so India has been experiencing intense heat, leading schools to close early for the summer.
Parts of Europe too have, by their standards, been sweltering.
The UK recorded a temperature of 35.1°C on Monday, the highest ever seen in May. Until this week the highest ever May temperature measured in the UK was 32.8°C, set in 1922 and 1944.
Given the upward trend, it would be no surprise if the record is broken again before too long.
Why conflicts and financial pressures should not delay environmental action
Delivering on commitments in biodiversity, climate change and land degradation has become more difficult because, for example, budgets are stretched and there are multiple conflicts, this article indicates.
Written by Razan Al Mubarak, the UAE Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nature, and executive managing director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, the comment piece warns that delaying environmental action “would be a mistake”.
With species becoming extinct, with ecosystems degrading and with people suffering the effects of, for example, higher temperatures and water insecurity, Ms Al Mubarak argues that action cannot be delayed.
Her article highlights the important environmental role Abu Dhabi has played not just locally but globally through its support for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Rising temperatures mean rising food prices
Higher temperatures are contributing to rises in prices of key foodstuffs such as bread and pasta, according to a report cited in this article by Lemma Shehadi.
The study, from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), offers a vivid demonstration of the widespread impacts of a warming climate.
As well as overall atmospheric warming, high temperatures caused by a hotter Pacific Ocean are also important, potentially increasing prices of foodstuffs including rice and sugar.
In the article, Christian Jaccarini, an ECIU food and farming analyst, warns that war and extreme weather are driving up the cost of food – and says that greater efforts to cut carbon emissions are needed to limit the risks of floods and droughts.
The big fact
A heatwave that lasted more than 70 days hit China in 2022, the longest ever recorded in the country.
Jargon buster
Heatwave: A period in which weather that is much hotter than expected for that area is recorded for several successive days and nights. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, climate change means that severe heatwaves in India and Pakistan, for example, have become 30 times more likely.
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