Oil-rich countries brace for deadly heat

Politico has published an article saying that extreme heat is coming for us all but countries that produce the fossil fuels causing climate change are expected to really bake — and air conditioning only goes so far, writes Sara Schonhardt.

The Persian Gulf region, already one of the hottest on Earth, could suffer temperatures so extreme that being outside becomes a literal death trap. This July — the hottest month in recorded history — the heat index in Iran hit 152 degrees Fahrenheit. (When heat and humidity are too high, the human body stops being able to cool itself, which can be dangerous or even deadly.)

It’s an example of how atmospheric pollution can turn an environment “from one that’s merely inhospitable to one that is actually intolerable,” Colin Raymond, a climate scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., told Sara.

Preventing the worst of global warming requires cutting planet-warming emissions swiftly and aggressively, namely by phasing out oil and gas production. But many in the region, like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, plan to continue investing in fossil fuels, which remain central to their economies.

To combat the debilitating heat, some Gulf cities have instead built elaborate air-conditioned spaces to escape summer’s melt — paid for, in part, with oil wealth.

Even air conditioning has limits

Cranking up the AC increases the demand for energy from an already polluting electric grid. That can create a vicious cycle: The more AC you use, the worse the heat. The worse the heat, the more AC you need, and so on.

Plus, a stressed grid can lead to power outages. “When the power is gone, even the best [air conditioning] system will not help,” Muammer Koç of Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar told Sara.

The health implications for the region, which is already warming almost two times faster than the global average, are dire. Prolonged exposure to extreme heat builds up stress on the body that can make the effects of other illnesses much worse. If the body cannot cool itself, that can lead to heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

Even a short stint outside in extreme heat can trigger a cascade of dangerous health issues for the elderly and people with preexisting conditions.