By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, Dec 4 (Reuters) – The Middle East and North Africa recorded their hottest year on record in 2024, with temperatures rising at twice the global average of recent decades, the U.N. weather agency said in a report.
Heatwaves in the region are becoming longer and more intense, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s first report focused on the area.
“Temperatures are rising at twice the global average, with intense heatwaves that are pushing society to the limits,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
The average temperature in 2024 was 1.08 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, the report found, with the highest in Algeria at 1.64 C above the average of the last 30 years.
Saulo warned that extended periods of more than 50 C in a number of Arab countries were “too hot to handle” for human health, ecosystems and economies.
Droughts in the region, home to 15 of the world’s most water-scarce countries, have become more frequent and severe, with a trend of more and longer heatwaves recorded in North Africa since 1981, the report said.
Consecutive failed rainy seasons caused drought in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, while intense rainfall sparked flash floods in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, the report found.
More than 300 people in the region died last year from extreme weather events, mainly heatwaves and floods, while nearly 3.8 million were affected in total, the WMO said.
The report said investment was urgently needed in water security, such as desalination and reusing wastewater, as well as warning systems to reduce risks from extreme weather events. Currently, about 60% of the region has such systems in place.
Average temperatures are expected to rise up to 5 C in the region by the end of the century under current emission levels, the report said, citing regional projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin. Editing by Mark Potter)
