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Global heating is making hajj ever more dangerous, report finds

 Global heating has “fundamentally altered” the climate of Mecca and is
exposing millions of hajj pilgrims to extreme and dangerous heat even in
months outside summer, new analysis has found.

Carbon dioxide emissions
from fossil fuels means scorching temperatures of 40C (104F) are now
regularly experienced in May, the study showed. In past decades, such peaks
would only have occurred in summer. The researchers said that hajj, the
annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, would take place amid dangerous heat
almost all year round by the end of the century without a rapid transition
away from fossil fuels.

Saudi Arabia, which hosts hajj, is the world’s
second biggest oil producer and a long-term obstructer of climate action.

 Guardian 29th May 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/29/global-heating-hajj-muslim-pilgrimage-saudi-arabia-dangerous

May 31, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, MIDDLE EAST