Life at 50 Degrees: Kuwait City May Be World's Hottest City
Life at 50 Degrees: Kuwait City May Be World's Hottest City
02:13
28 jul. 2024 03:41
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In many parts of the world, summer has kicked in, and people are really feeling the heat. But people in one city in the Middle East may have more reason to complain about the heat than anywhere else in the world. This place is so hot that birds fall from the sky, some streets are air-conditioned, and, allegedly, fish boil in the sea. This is Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait, often called the hottest city in the world. Temperatures often get as hot as 50 degrees Celsius in the summer — and sometimes even higher. In July 2016, the temperature reached 54 degrees Celsius in the north, which is the highest temperature Kuwait has experienced. People are rarely seen walking outside in the summer, and many residents leave the city while it's this hot. Kuwait has always been hot, but climate change has made the summers hotter and longer. According to the Emirates Policy Center, between 1962 and 1999 there were 18 days when the temperature in Kuwait was 50 degrees Celsius or higher. Between 2000 and 2021, the number of days was 80 — and 64 of those were between 2010 and 2021. The country is also getting less rain than before. As a result, it's experiencing more frequent and intense dust storms. Living in these high temperatures is not good for humans. A study by the University of Roehampton in London found that the human body has an upper temperature limit of between 40 degrees and 50 degrees before it starts to malfunction. At higher temperatures, a person may start to experience "heat stress," which can cause things like confusion, nausea, dizziness and fainting — and can be fatal. Some may say that Kuwait is contributing to its own problems, since it's one of the world's largest emitters per capita of carbon dioxide, and uses only fossil fuels for energy. But things may be changing. According to the International Energy Agency, the country plans to generate at least 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.
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