Greater than 2,700 instances of warmth stress and sunstroke amongst pilgrims have been reported, Mohammed Al-Abdulaali, a spokesman for the Saudi Well being Ministry, mentioned Monday, in keeping with the Saudi Press Company.
Hajj is among the 5 pillars of Islam, and no less than one pilgrimage in a lifetime is taken into account an obligation for all Muslims who’re able-bodied and have the monetary means. Most rituals are outside, together with strolling in circles across the cube-shaped Kaaba, probably the most sacred Islamic web site, saying prayers dealing with it and tracing the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad atop the Mount of Mercy.
This yr’s Hajj is being attended by 1.8 million individuals from world wide, native authorities have mentioned. The pilgrimage started on Friday and is ready to culminate Wednesday. Islam follows the lunar calendar, with 354 days, so Hajj shifts by 10 or 11 days yearly on the Gregorian calendar.
Rising warmth and humidity as a result of local weather change in components of Saudi Arabia the place the Hajj takes place may make the pilgrimage harmful for some, a examine printed in 2019 mentioned. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how and Loyola Marymount College in Los Angeles mentioned the dangers could possibly be critical when Hajj happens through the hottest summer time months — from 2047 to 2052 and from 2079 to 2086.
Hundreds of instances of warmth stress have been reported throughout final yr’s Hajj, which fell in late June.
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Moreover protecting countermeasures, the researchers advocate limiting the variety of pilgrims and prioritizing these in good well being through the high-risk years. (Through the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, Saudi Arabia restricted the participation to pilgrims beneath 65 and capped the gathering at 60,000 individuals.)
In 2050, Mecca could have 182 days with extremely harmful warmth above 89.6 levels within the solar and 54 days with such warmth within the shade, in keeping with a world evaluation by The Washington Put up.
Saudi Arabia has been attempting to adapt to the fast-changing state of affairs. It arms out chilly water to pilgrims, it has put in massive umbrellas with mist followers, and it has arrange devoted hospitals to deal with heat-related sicknesses.
The nation’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has additionally really useful measures that pilgrims can take to keep away from heatstroke, together with minimizing solar publicity and ingesting fluids.
The problem from surging warmth is international. Dozens of heat-related deaths have been reported this summer time from India, the place temperatures have surged to 120 levels and nights stay over 90 in components of the nation. In Greece, authorities are involved as vacationers have gone lacking amid the excessive temperatures sweeping the nation. And on Sunday, the Nationwide Climate Service issued a warmth look ahead to components of the United States, predicting a “extended interval of dangerously sizzling circumstances” with “intense warmth and excessive humidity.”
