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The GCC region is undergoing a heat wave that is hospitalising labourers, breaking down electricity substations and pushing power stations to the limit, experts and officials from across the region say. ¡°It¡¯s a heat wave, it¡¯s unexpected, we are having extreme temperatures for this time of year,¡± said Essa Ramadan, the senior meteorologist at the Kuwait Meteorological Department. In Kuwait, ¡°it¡¯s seven to eight degrees [Celsius] above average¡±.

The highest temperature ever recorded at Kuwait International Airport since it started taking measurements in 1957 was 51.3¢ªC in August 1998. Even though June is usually a cooler month, that temperature was matched this week. Weather stations in other areas of the country recorded temperatures as high as 54¢ªC.

Mr Ramadan blames the high temperatures on global warming, which he said is changing the Earth¡¯s weather systems and has led to an average annual rise of between 0.5¢ªC and 0.8¢ªC in Kuwait over the last 53 years. He said Kuwait, the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia, the south of Iraq and west Iran are being hit the hardest.

Qatar's longest day in the year was also the hottest with experts agreeing that the unusually high temperatures experienced in Qatar and the Gulf region over the last five days indicate a significant shift in weather patterns. The temperatures recorded this year are 5-7 degrees Celsius higher than in the corresponding period last year, Qatari daily The Peninsula said. Maximum temperatures on June 18, 19 and 20, last year, were 44, 43 and 42 degrees Celsius respectively. However, this year, all the three days recorded a high of 49C. There was also a major shift in the minimum temperature recorded during the same period.

The weather should not have been so hot this month. But we have been receiving warm and humid south-westerly winds for the last four days [thus forcing temperatures up]. Normally, we receive this wind during the peak of summer," the official was quoted as saying.

Record high temepratures in Bahrain have forced several construction companies take the humanitarian decision of resting their labourers in the afternoon.

he NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) Coral Bleaching Thermal Stress Outlook indicates that there is a high potential for coral bleaching in the Caribbean in 2010. The 2009-2010 El Niño ended in May 2010. However, the Caribbean typically experiences elevated temperature during the second year of an El Niño event. Since the beginning of 2010, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in most of the Caribbean region and tropical Atlantic Ocean have been observed more than 1ºC above the normal (see the SST anomaly figure below), based on Coral Reef Watch's climatology. This pattern is similar to, but has persisted much longer than, what occurred during the same time period in 2005.

The NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) Coral Bleaching Thermal Stress Outlook indicates that there is a high potential for coral bleaching in the Caribbean in 2010. The 2009-2010 El Niño ended in May 2010. However, the Caribbean usually experiences elevated temperature during the year following an El Niño event. Since the beginning of 2010, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in most of the Caribbean region and tropical Atlantic Ocean have been observed more than 1ºC above the normal (see the SST anomaly figure above), based on Coral Reef Watch's climatology. This pattern is similar to, but has persisted much longer than, what occurred during the same time period in 2005. In 2005, a record breaking mass coral bleaching event in the Caribbean along with the most active hurricane season on record in the Atlantic Ocean followed such a pre-bleaching season SST anomaly pattern. The high SST anomaly in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys began in mid-May after a dramatic increase in SST in early May (near 2ºC increase over several days at some locations) after an extreme cold outbreak earlier this year in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Florida area. This preheating increases the likelihood that temperatures will exceed bleaching thresholds during the coming season. The pattern and intensity of early-season SST anomalies is similar to what was seen in 2005. The high potential for thermal stress above levels required to cause bleaching as seen in the CRW bleaching outlook system indicates a high potential for significant bleaching in the Caribbean region for the 2010 bleaching season. In 2005, the active hurricane season greatly reduced the coral bleaching thermal stress in the Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico. However, the lack of tropical cyclones around the Lesser Antilles did not allow storms to relieve much the thermal stress in the epicenter of the 2005 mass bleaching event.

Low level bleaching thermal stress has already been present in the Caribbean region. The stress started to appear at the beginning of May at the eastern end of the Caribbean. It now covers most of the southern Caribbean region. In the Caribbean, bleaching-level thermal stress usually does not appear across such a wide area this early in the year. The year of 2005 was an exception and showed the similar thermal stress pattern. Given that the record breaking mass coral bleaching event occurred in 2005, the development of this year's thermal stress in the Caribbean needs to be monitored closely.

Welcom

Extreme heat wave sets all-time high temperature records in Africa and Middle EastA withering heat wave of unprecedented intensity and areal covered has smashed all-time high temperatures in four nations in the Middle East and Africa over the past week. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Chad, and Niger all set new records for their hottest temperatures of all time, and several other Middle East nations came within a degree of their hottest temperatures ever. The heat was the most intense in Iraq, which had its hottest day in history on June 14, 2010, when the mercury hit 52.0°C (125.6°F) in Basra. Iraq's previous record was 51.7°C (125.1°F) set August 8, 1937, in Ash Shu'aybah. It was also incredibly hot in Saudi Arabia, which had its hottest temperature ever on Tuesday (June 22): 52.0°C (125.6°F), measured in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. The previous record was 51.7°C (125.1°F), at Abqaiq, date unknown. The record heat was accompanied by a sandstorm, which caused eight power plants to go offline, resulting in blackouts to several Saudi cities.In Africa, Chad had its hottest day in history on Tuesday (June 22), when the temperature reached 47.6°C (117.7°F) at Faya. The previous record was 47.4°C (117.3°F) at Faya on June 3 and June 9, 1961. Niger tied its record for hottest day in history on Tuesday (June 22), when the temperature reached 47.1°C (116.8°F) at Bilma. That record stood for just one day, as Bilma broke the record again on Wednesday (June 23), when the mercury topped out at 48.2°C (118.8°F). The previous record was 47.1°C on May 24, 1998, also at Bilma.Three countries came within a degree of their all time hottest temperature on record during the heat wave. Bahrain had its hottest June temperature ever, 46.9°C, on June 20, missing the all-time record of 47.5°C (117.5°F), set July 14, 2000. Temperatures in Quatar reached 48.8°C (119.8°F) on June 20. Quatar's all-time record hottest temperature was 49.6°C (121.3°F) set on July 9, 2000. It was also very hot in Kuwait, with temperatures reaching 51°C (123.8°F) in the capital on June 15. Kuwait's all-time hottest temperature was 51.9°C (125.4°F), on July 27,2007, at Abdaly. According to Essa Ramadan, a Kuwaiti meteorologist from Civil Aviation, Matrabah, Kuwait smashed this record and had Asia's hottest temperature in history on June 15 this year, when the mercury hit 54.0°C (129.2°F). However, data from this station is notoriously bad, and each year bogus record highs have to be corrected, according to an email I received from weather record researcher Maximiliano Herrera. Asia's hottest temperature in history will very likely remain the 53.5°C (128.3°F) recorded at MohenjuDaro, Pakistan on May 26 this year.

The research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, NCAR’s sponsor. The results were reviewed by scientists at NCAR and elsewhere, although not yet submitted for peer-review publication.

The computer simulations indicate that, once the oil in the uppermost ocean has become entrained in the Gulf of Mexico’s fast-moving Loop Current, it is likely to reach Florida's Atlantic coast within weeks. It can then move north as far as about Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, with the Gulf Stream, before turning east. Whether the oil will be a thin film on the surface or mostly subsurface due to mixing in the uppermost region of the ocean is not known.

CoreLogic® Finds More Than $234 Billion in Residential Storm Surge Exposure in 13 U.S. Cities

In a Congressional briefing on 30 June 2010, hurricane expert Greg Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) said the potential for a disastrous 2010 hurricane season reflects not just natural variability but also climate change.  He explained that record high sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic were one of the principal factors behind the dire forecast, and that rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases may account for roughly half of the anomalous warmth.  He warned that "we’re looking at potentially a doubling of major hurricanes in the next 20 to 30 years" as a result of global warming.  Holland, Director of NCAR's Earth System Laboratory, made his remarks as a member of a panel on Hurricanes and Oil Will Mix: Managing Risk Now. 

A month before the panel's briefing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued on 27 May its 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook. NOAA said there was a 70% chance that the Atlantic hurricane season would see 14-23 named storms, 8-14 hurricanes, and 3-7 major hurricanes.

Among the factors underlying its outlook, NOAA cited warm Atlantic Ocean surface waters, which in May were for the fourth month in a row at record high temperatures for the month:  "Sea surface temperatures [SSTs] are expected to remain above average where storms often develop and move across the Atlantic. Record warm temperatures – up to four degrees Fahrenheit above average – are now present in this region."