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Crisis Point

The Middle East is baking in a 60 degree heatwave which is pushing people to the limits of survival

There are fears that the extreme temperatures will prove fatal for the region's poorest residents, who can't afford air conditioning to combat the heat

PEOPLE in the Middle East are being pushed to breaking point by a deadly heatwave, and it's showing no signs of letting up.

The scorching conditions have created an ongoing crisis across the region, with temperatures nearly at the point where it is too hot for human survival.

A recent heatwave in India saw temperatures rise to 51C, the highest in the country’s recorded history
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A recent heatwave in India saw temperatures rise to 51C, the highest in the country’s recorded historyCredit: Getty Images

Over the past month, temperatures in Kuwait and Iraq have soared to 54 degrees, with Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, baking in temperatures of 43C nearly every day for almost two straight months.

And things are even worse in the United Arab Emirates and Iran, where temperatures have hit a deadly 60 degrees C.

The heat has seen water reserves dry up, hitting rural communities hard as their crops fail in the deadly conditions
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The heat has seen water reserves dry up, hitting rural communities hard as their crops fail in the deadly conditionsCredit: Getty Images

Zainab Guman, a 26-year-old university student from Basra, Iraq, told  that it felt like “walking into a fire” when she left the house.

She said: “It’s like everything on your body — your skin, your eyes, your nose — starts to burn."

Desperate Iraqis have seen their economy slump as people become too hot to physically function
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Desperate Iraqis have seen their economy slump as people become too hot to physically functionCredit: Getty Images

There are fears that the extreme temperatures will prove fatal for the region's poorest residents, who can't afford air conditioning to combat the heat.

Environmental scientists often describe heatwaves as "silent killers", since they are more dangerous than any other natural disaster, but are paid a fraction of the attention.

Parched conditions can be deadly for livestock and people alike, especially in rural communities
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Parched conditions can be deadly for livestock and people alike, especially in rural communitiesCredit: AP:Associated Press

Dr Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a research fellow at UNSW’s Climate Change Research Centre, told : "People in the Middle East are used to the heat - it's part of their culture.

"They’ve experienced high temperatures before. But it’s getting more frequent, and people of a certain status are going to suffer a lot more.

"If you work outside in these conditions you will not survive. These are the people who can’t afford clean drinking water or to sit in the shade — they’re typically of a lower socio-economic status.”

For poorer residents, the Middle East is beginning to become too hot to comfortably survive in
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For poorer residents, the Middle East is beginning to become too hot to comfortably survive inCredit: Reuters

Earlier this year, temperatures in parts of India soared to 51C, the highest in the country’s recorded history.

The impact of the heat was devastating, and increasingly deadly, particularly for the hundreds of people dying of starvation due to withering crops in their remote fields.

Parched Iraqis are forced to rely on any means necessary to cool off, especially in the poorer parts of the country
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Parched Iraqis are forced to rely on any means necessary to cool off, especially in the poorer parts of the countryCredit: Getty Images

So far, no heat-related deaths have been reported in Iraq, although this could be because doctors don't tend to list overheating as an official cause of death.

However, it’s not just the death toll that’s a concern, since heatwaves can have a significant impact on a country’s overall ability to function.

Economists have predicted that Iraq's gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted between 10 and 20 per cent during the heatwave.

If these "silent killers" do become more frequent, as environmental scientists predict, further waves of migrants could be forced to flee the Middle East and head to Europe.

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