Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels
The Muslim pilgrimage or Hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Muslim faith, takes place outdoors in and surrounding Mecca in the Saudi Arabian desert. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an extreme danger heat stress threshold which is approximately equivalent to a wet-bulb temperature of...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125786 |
| _version_ | 1826216895888490496 |
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| author | Kang, Suchul Pal, Jeremy S. Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. |
| author2 | Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
| author_facet | Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Kang, Suchul Pal, Jeremy S. Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. |
| author_sort | Kang, Suchul |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The Muslim pilgrimage or Hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Muslim faith, takes place outdoors in and surrounding Mecca in the Saudi Arabian desert. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an extreme danger heat stress threshold which is approximately equivalent to a wet-bulb temperature of about 29.1 °C—a combined measure of temperature and humidity. Here, based on results of simulations using an ensemble of coupled atmosphere-ocean global climate models, we project that future climate change with and without mitigation will elevate heat stress to levels that exceed this extreme danger threshold through 2020 and during the periods of 2047 to 2052 and 2079 to 2086, with increasing frequency and intensity as the century progresses. If climate change proceeds on the current trajectory or even on a trajectory with considerable mitigation, aggressive adaptation measures will be required during years of high heat stress risk. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:55:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/125786 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:55:10Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1257862022-09-29T22:24:43Z Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels Kang, Suchul Pal, Jeremy S. Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) The Muslim pilgrimage or Hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Muslim faith, takes place outdoors in and surrounding Mecca in the Saudi Arabian desert. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an extreme danger heat stress threshold which is approximately equivalent to a wet-bulb temperature of about 29.1 °C—a combined measure of temperature and humidity. Here, based on results of simulations using an ensemble of coupled atmosphere-ocean global climate models, we project that future climate change with and without mitigation will elevate heat stress to levels that exceed this extreme danger threshold through 2020 and during the periods of 2047 to 2052 and 2079 to 2086, with increasing frequency and intensity as the century progresses. If climate change proceeds on the current trajectory or even on a trajectory with considerable mitigation, aggressive adaptation measures will be required during years of high heat stress risk. 2020-06-12T20:18:55Z 2020-06-12T20:18:55Z 2019-08 2019-06 2020-05-22T16:44:48Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1944-8007 0094-8276 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125786 Kang, Suchul, Pal, Jeremy S., and Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. "Future heat stress during Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) projected to exceed “extreme danger” levels." Geophysical Research Letters 46,16 (2019): 10094–10100. ©2019 Author(s) en https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083686 Geophysical Research Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) Other repository |
| spellingShingle | Kang, Suchul Pal, Jeremy S. Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels |
| title | Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels |
| title_full | Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels |
| title_fullStr | Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels |
| title_short | Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed “Extreme Danger” Levels |
| title_sort | future heat stress during muslim pilgrimage hajj projected to exceed extreme danger levels |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125786 |
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