Kuwait is the hottest place on Earth in 2021. Pigeons took cover under the shade of trees on the seafront of Kuwait City on Friday July 2, 2021, as the country recorded extremely high summer temperatures.
Photo: Gulf News/AFP
In the northern city of Al Jahra, the temperature touched 53.5°C on Friday. By 11AM local time it was 130 F (54.4 C) indoor and 164.3 F(73.5 C) outdoor.
Similarly, two weeks ago Nuwaiseeb, south of Kuwait City on the border with Saudi Arabia, recorded the highest temperature in the world for 2021, with a record temp of 53.2°C.
The highest temperature in Kuwait City reaching 73 C (under the sun, 53°C in the shadow) is a global record, melting car shells and emptying the streets.
“On average during this period, temperatures are not supposed to exceed 46°C but Kuwait is experiencing temperatures above the average by 3 to 4 degrees,” Essa Ramadan, a Kuwaiti meteorologist, told Gulf News.
Ramadan said there were multiple factors contributing to the fact that Kuwait is one of the hottest countries in the world, ranging from it’s geographical location to the angle of the sun’s rays.
Kuwait’s proximity to the equator naturally makes it prone to higher temperatures. It’s location also means Kuwait attracts more solar radiation. But the recent spike in temperature has sounded the alarm as it is one of the indications of climate change.
Ramadan added the combination of low levels of vegetation and trees coupled with growing infrastructure, especially buildings, have also contributed to the rising temperatures.
Graphic: Aljazeera.From Canada to Kuwait, temperature extremes are placing unprecedented stress on existing infrastructure: power outages.
Since the beginning of July, many countries and regions have experienced abnormally high temperatures, which makes the issue of climate change more concerned.
The rise in temperatures, and climate change as a whole, has negatively impacted people’s livelihood in several ways, observers say.
The Tropic of Cancer region –mainly Asia and all the way to Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is “on the frontline of climate change, mainly due to pollution”, a Middle East observer said.
