Including Iraqi cities, uninhabitable cities in the Middle East

Shafaq News/ This summer, many picturesque countries in the Middle East have turned into burning places. As sweltering temperatures and extreme drought swept through the region, forests burned, and cities became unbearably hot, according to Foreign Policy.

In June, Kuwait recorded a temperature of 53.2 degrees Celsius (127.76 degrees Fahrenheit), while Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia each recorded more than 50 degrees. A month later, temperatures in Iraq rose to 51.5 degrees, and Iran recorded nearly 51 degrees.

Worst of all, this is just the beginning. The Middle East is warming at twice the global average and by 2050 it will be 4°C hotter.

The World Bank says extreme weather conditions will become routine and the region may experience four months of scorching sun each year.

According to the German Max Planck Institute, many cities in the Middle East may become virtually uninhabitable before the turn of the century. The region, torn by war and mired in sectarianism, may be uniquely ill-prepared to meet these challenges that threaten its collective existence.

Greenhouse gas emissions in the region have more than tripled over the past three decades, and have caused experts to worry that soaring temperatures on the one hand and a lack of basic services on the other are making the region an even more desperate and dangerous place.

Jos Lelieveld, an expert on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean climate at the Max Planck Institute, said the Middle East has overtaken the European Union in greenhouse gas emissions even though it is “particularly severely affected” by climate change.

Lillifeld added: “In many cities in the Middle East, temperatures have risen dramatically by more than 50 degrees Celsius. If nothing changes, cities may be exposed to temperatures of up to 60 degrees Celsius in the future, which would be dangerous for those without Access to air conditioners.

Air conditioners have become a luxury even for the relatively wealthy in countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Burdened by war and Western sanctions or a ruling elite serving their interests, these countries have seen major protests against a lack of basic services as temperatures rise.

In Iraq, record heat last month pushed people onto the streets. They blocked roads, burned tires, and in anger surrounded power stations that the armed forces had to secure. Ironically, oil-rich Basra in southern Iraq faces the longest blackouts, and was the epicenter of demonstrations in which at least three Iraqis were killed.

According to experts, political instability is the main reason behind the electricity crisis in Iraq.

In Lebanon, a similar scenario occurred this month. The Lebanese are already grappling with myriad crises and are frustrated with the inaction of the political elite. With fuel supplies dwindling, scenes of chaos emerged across the country.

Some people looted fuel tanks, others looted power plants, yet others carried firearms to gas stations to advance into the hundreds in line.

On August 12, the Central Bank lifted fuel subsidies, and generators were out of order. The lights went out, and even those in the affluent neighborhoods – which used air conditioners – had to contend with the sweltering heat.

In 2017, Iran recorded the highest official temperature in the region of 54 degrees Celsius and it exceeded 50 degrees last month. But frequent droughts have rendered the country’s hydroelectric power stations redundant, and in turn caused production to fall at a time of rising demand for electricity.

In July, protests erupted in various cities in Iran, with some protesters chanting anti regime slogans. In Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran, people blocked roads and burned tires to protest water scarcity.

In Syria, droughts between 2006 and 2011 deepened the socio-economic gap between rural and urban areas and is believed to have been one of the causes of the Syrian civil war.

In Yemen, the prolonged war appears to have exacerbated the water crisis. The groundwater sources in Yemen are rapidly drying up, leaving the country in a state of thirst.

Johan Schar, Senior Associate Fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, argues that regional cooperation can alleviate the water crisis and reduce the region’s carbon emissions.

“The most important in terms of regional cooperation is the agreement on the use and management of shared water resources that will become more scarcer and more variable due to extreme weather events, whether rivers or groundwater,” Shar said.