Climate change boosted deadly Saudi haj heat by 2.5 deg C, say scientists

Deadly heat linked to fossil fuel burning and affected vulnerable pilgrims: Experts

The heatwave in Saudi Arabia blamed for the deaths of 1,300 people on the haj pilgrimage in June was made worse by climate change, a team of European scientists said on June 28.

Temperatures along the route from June 16 to 18 reached 47 deg C at times, and exceeded 51.8 deg C at Mecca's Great Mosque.

The temperature would have been approximately 2.5 deg C cooler without the influence of humancaused climate change, according to a weather attribution analysis by ClimaMeter, which conducts rapid assessments of the role of climate change in particular weather events.

The scientists used satellite observations from the last four decades to compare weather patterns from 1979 to 2001, and 2001 to 2023.