temperature reaches 53.2 degrees Celsius
AMN/ WEB DESK
It was so hot in Kuwait last summer that birds dropped dead from the sky. Sea horses boiled to death in the bay. Dead clams coated the rocks, their shells popped open like they’d been steamed.Kuwait reached a scorching temperature of 53.2 degrees Celsius (127.7 degrees Fahrenheit), making it among the hottest places on earth.
The extremes of climate change present existential perils all over the world. But the record heat waves that roast Kuwait each season have grown so severe that people increasingly find it unbearable.
By the end of the century, scientists say being outside in Kuwait City could be life-threatening – not only to birds. A recent study also linked 67 percent of heat-related deaths in the capital to climate change.
Environmental consultant Samia Alduaij said that, the country is severely under threat.
Racing to burnish their climate credentials and diversify their economies, Saudi Arabia pitches futuristic car-free cities and Dubai plans to ban plastic and multiply the emirate’s green parks.
The country continues to burn oil for electricity and ranks among the top global carbon emitters per capita, according to the World Resources Institute. As asphalt melts on highways, Kuwaitis bundle up for bone-chilling air-conditioning in malls. Renewable energy accounts for less than 1 percent of demand – far below Kuwait’s target of 15 percent by 2030.