Learning to live with 50 degree temperatures

From Dubai to Mumbai, cities are having to adapt to hotter summers, often exacerbating economic inequality in the process.

People cool off in a fountain just outside Jerusalem’s Old City as temperatures hit 45C in 2022. Many countries are increasingly facing extreme heat, with the adaptation measures available to the wealthy creating a widening divide with poorer manual workers.

Chloe Cornish

Sep 6, 2024 – 5.00am

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Sitting astride a motorbike near a Dubai kitchen, sweat forms on Mohamad’s brow as he waits to collect a lunch order. The food is not for him; he’ll drive it through the sweltering financial and tourist hub to a customer in an air-conditioned tower block.

With the mercury nudging 44 degrees and high humidity, “it feels like a sauna”, the delivery driver says. Originally from Pakistan, Mohamad is uncomfortably dressed for the weather, wearing protective pads, dark trousers and the branded long-sleeved, high-neck top supplied by the delivery platform he works with.

Financial Times