Life at 50°C: Middle East
The Middle East is heating up at twice the global average rate
The Middle East is heating faster than much of the world and Kuwait is careering towards unbearable temperatures. As the mercury tops 53C, three Kuwaiti citizens - a weather forecaster, an influencer, and a retired civil servant - raise the alarm. They say that Kuwait must not be allowed to get any hotter - and one of them has a solution to offer.
In July 2021, the temperature in Kuwait topped 53°C. 'From 2016, we began recording 50°C repeatedly, which we hadn't recorded before. This change is frightening for us all', says Kuwaiti meteorologist Essa Ramadan. 'It's getting to the point where it's really unbearable', says Kuwaiti influencer Ascia Alshammiri. On the outskirts of Kuwait city, Om Naief is trying to counteract climate change by planting trees in arid desert. 'We must protect the land and not let it dry', says Naief.
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