The heat in the Persian Gulf might be too much to handle before this century ends, making it inhospitable to humans. This would greatly affect not only poor areas but businesses that depend on the region.
Researchers involved with Nature Climate Change announced on Monday that the rising temperature in the Persian Gulf can reach up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) and could become the constant temperature in the region. Kuwait and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates might even be as hot as 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), according to Fox News.
Co-authors Jeremy S. Pal of Loyola Marymount University and Elfatih A.B. Eltahir of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that the human body can withstand a wet-bulb temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) but that may vary depending on the body's tolerance. The study has results that "expose a specific regional hotspot where climate change, in the absence of significant mitigation, is likely to severely impact human habitability in the future," according to the study published on Nature Climate Change.
The human body can still adapt to high temperatures through sweating or other bodily functions, but the developing severe heat in the Persian Gulf for a long duration would be fatal.
"Such severe heat waves are expected to occur only once every decade or every few decades," Eltahir added, according to Time. "But when they happen they will be quite lethal."
This year alone, more than 2,300 people in India have been killed by an extreme heatwave. The temperature rose up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius), which was able to melted roads in New Delhi and burned fields. The extreme heat caused sunstroke and severe hydration that are the common cause of heat-related deaths, according to the National Geographic.
