The United Arab Emirates recorded its highest-ever temperature for the month of May on Friday, marking a historic milestone since official records began. According to the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), temperatures soared to 51.6°C at 1:45 PM local time in Sweihan, a town in the Al Ain region.
This new record surpasses the 50.4°C measured just a day earlier in Abu Dhabi and exceeds the previous May record of 50.2°C set back in 2009.
Despite being one of the world’s leading oil exporters, the UAE has made significant investments in renewable energy. Yet, the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly tangible—and alarming.
A recent report by Climate Central revealed that between December 2024 and February 2025, approximately 1.8 billion people—one in five individuals worldwide—experienced daily temperatures influenced by global warming.
The study, cited by Time magazine, analyzed global climate data and found that in half of the countries assessed and in 287 cities, average temperatures were affected by climate change at least one-third of the time during the analyzed period.
These findings come at a critical juncture: in 2024, the global average temperature surpassed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—a threshold that signatory nations of the Paris Agreement had pledged to avoid.
Moreover, January 2025 was the hottest month in 176 years of global climate records, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Most regions of the world experienced above-average temperatures, including Europe, Canada, South America, Africa, Australia, and even Antarctica.
“The influence of climate change is now felt across nearly the entire planet,” said Kristina Dahl, Vice President of Science at Climate Central. “We found warmer-than-normal temperatures caused by climate change in almost every region studied.”
One of the most concerning findings is the rise in so-called “dangerous heat days,” defined as those exceeding the 90th percentile of temperatures recorded between 1991 and 2020. During the three-month period studied, 394 million people experienced at least 30 days of extreme heat.
According to Dahl, these days pose a serious public health threat: “Extreme heat is linked to a temperature threshold that significantly increases the risk of heat-related mortality.”
One such event occurred in East Africa in February 2025, where a heatwave scorched Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania. In Uganda, local media reported a sharp rise in cases of dehydration and heatstroke treated in hospitals.
These extreme events not only endanger the most vulnerable—such as children, the elderly, and people with preexisting health conditions—but also place additional strain on already burdened healthcare systems.
