Why One of the world's wealthiest countries is becoming more hot and unlivable.

In 2016, temperatures reached 54 degrees Celsius, the highest level on Earth in the previous 76 years.

Last year, they broke 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time in June, weeks ahead of normal peak weather.

According to the Environment Public Authority, parts of Kuwait might become up to 4.5 degrees Celsius hotter than the historical norm from 2071 to 2100, rendering major swathes of the nation uninhabitable.

During the hot summer months, dead birds emerge from roofs, unable to find shade or drink.

Even wild foxes are fleeing a desert that no longer blossoms after the rains in search of the few spots of green that remain in the city, where they are viewed as pests.

In contrast to nations such as Bangladesh and Brazil, which are trying to manage environmental concerns with large populations and widespread poverty, Kuwait is OPEC's fourth-largest oil exporter.

 

Even Kuwait's neighbors, who rely on petroleum exports as well, have committed to taking more aggressive climate action.

Saudi Arabia said last year that it would aim towards net-zero emissions by 2060.

The next two United Nations climate conferences will be held in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, as Middle Eastern nations recognize that increasing temperatures and sea levels will have an impact on them as well.

Kuwait, on the other hand, vowed during the COP26 meeting in November to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 7.4 percent by 2035, well short of the 45 percent reduction required to reach the Paris Agreement's stretch goal of reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.

 

The 32-year-old former banker resigned from his job to advocate for a shift that experts believe might be Kuwait's key to combating global warming: changing people's attitudes regarding transportation.

His objective is to encourage Kuwaitis to use public transportation, which is now limited to buses, which are largely used by migrant laborers with low-paying occupations who have no option but to endure the heat.

Though Kuwait has one of the greatest carbon-dioxide emissions per capita in the world, the concept of giving up their cars is alien to most inhabitants in a nation where gasoline is cheaper than Coca-Cola and towns are built for autos.

"This is due in part to the fact that most Kuwaitis and rich people are immune to the impacts of increasing temperatures.

 

Children spend the majority of the year indoors to avoid either the scorching heat or harmful pollution, which has been linked to vitamin D deficiency (which people produce when exposed to sunlight) and respiratory illnesses.

According to Fitch Ratings, temperature fluctuations in the 2040s and 2050s will have an increasingly detrimental influence on Kuwait's creditworthiness.

Even if the world manages to reduce emissions in time to avoid catastrophic global warming, countries will have to adjust to increasingly severe weather.

As things are, experts think Kuwait's plan is insufficient to keep the country livable.

 

"If the government is slow, young Kuwaitis like Al-Awadhi aren't.

His advocacy group, Kuwait Commute, is starting small by advocating for bus stop shelters to shield passengers from the sun.

Kuwait's largest lender, the National Bank of Kuwait, recently financed a bus stop designed by three female graduates.

However, "the government must be the driving force behind it."

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