‘World’s hottest metropolis’ the place temperatures prime 50C and air pollution turns air lethal

Aug 26, 2023 at 7:13 AM
‘World’s hottest metropolis’ the place temperatures prime 50C and air pollution turns air lethal

Summer has lastly landed in Britain — however climate forecasts present it is to not final for lengthy with moist climate on the way in which.

This yr, nations around the globe have endured unprecedented heatwaves.

From Europe to the Americas, the Middle East to Oceania, freak scorching climate has landed many in sticky conditions.

Death Valley in California recorded one of many official hottest temperatures this yr at 55C.

But there may be one metropolis that commonly hits the 50+C mark in southern Iran, the place its inhabitants have grown used to scorching temperatures.

Ahvaz first headlines again in 2017 when French meteorological company MeteoFrance reported that the town had hello 53.7C on the mercury.

At the time, Etienne Kapikian, a forecaster on the company, wrote on the social media platform X (previously Twitter): “A new absolute national record of reliable Iranian heat.”

The “real heat” index — what the temperature feels prefer to the human physique when relative humidity is mixed with the air temperature — reached 61.1C.

If correct, the studying could be one among, if not the hottest temperatures ever measured on Earth in current historical past.

It tied with the best temperature ever recorded within the nation, however Ahvaz usually hits 50C or barely greater.

The solely different time Iran reached 53C was in 2016, and in 2015, elements of Iran reached an actual warmth really feel of 73.9C due to heavy humidity.

Ahvaz is without doubt one of the most polluted cities in the world, that means {that a} mixture of impure air and extreme warmth can combine collectively to create a cocktail of well being hazards.

Most research point out that PM2.5 at or under 12 μg/m3 is taken into account wholesome with little to no danger from publicity, whereas something at or above 35 μg/m3 is taken into account severely unhealthy and harmful.

At the time of writing, PM2.5 is at 159 μg/m3 in Ahvaz, a metropolis of 1.2 million, in response to the Real-time Air Quality Index.

The hovering temperature was recorded simply after a number of areas within the Middle East noticed a few of their hottest temperatures within the month of May throughout an intense heatwave.

Similar scenes have been seen this yr, the place a heatwave hitting North Africa and the Middle East has seen points with electrical provides and droughts.

While Jordan has seen temperatures within the mid-thirties, Iraq has recorded 49C, and Kuwait noticed the mercury rise to 50C at one level.