Climate Change is Endangering the Hajj Piligrims | FairPlanet
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This year’s annual Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj in Saudi Arabia witnessed over a thousand deaths due to a harsh heatwave.
  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    10·
    4 months ago

    Wow, looking at coming years, it might not be safe until 2034/2035?

    But of course, by then, with rising temperatures even those dates might not be safe.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      62·
      4 months ago

      I think no matter what, the deaths will keep rising. And without a central authority in Islam, there is no one to tell pilgrims to stop doing it for their own sake.

      • Tryptaminev@lemm.eeEnglish
        91·
        4 months ago

        Dying during Hajj has always been a risk historically. Imagine you’d make the way from Afghanistan or Gambia to Mekka in the time before cars and planes. People were on the road for years, and the roads back then were a very different story.

        Also for nowadays it needs to be kept in mind, that people often safe up a very long time, to afford doing Hajj. So by the time they saved enough money for it, they are quite old, which increases the risk of dying from heat.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        4 months ago

        I mean, it’s not like there’s no infrastructure there.

        They could, probably easily provide everyone with adequate hydration and maybe put up some shade cover to mitigate the worst.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
          21·
          4 months ago

          If I remember correctly, people are even dying in hotels because of insufficient cooling. So you would really need to upgrade the entire city’s infrastructure itself in order to accommodate the power needed for that (hopefully not by emitting more CO2).

          I’m not saying it isn’t doable, but it’s a bigger project that you’re thinking.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            4 months ago

            Simply providing people water would go a very, very long way to helping, and is a change that could happen literally overnight- if someone cared enough. Like the people running the Masjid al-Haram that surrounds the Kaaba, or Makkah city officials….

            Sure it would be expensive. But how much money do those entities (as well as the services that arrange pilgrimage stuff like a vacation,) make off the Hajj?

            With people dying “even in hotels”, keep in mind that if you reduce the worst exposure (standing out in a crowded place in direct sun with no access to water…) then you can suddenly tolerate a more-but-not-as-bad exposure in the hotels.

  • Media Bias Fact Checker@lemmy.worldBEnglish
    612·
    4 months ago
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