Ullah et al. (2026) Frequent, Intense and Prolonged Human‐Perceived Heat Waves Over the Arabian Peninsula in Recent Decades

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: International Journal of Climatology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-15
• Authors: Safi Ullah, Vinodh K. Buri, Salah Basem Ajjur, Azfar Hussain, Waheed Ullah, Amal A. Al-Ghafri, Tareq Al-Ansari, Sami G. Al‐Ghamdi
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70510

Research Groups

• Centre for Climate Change Research, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
• Department of Earth Sciences, KAUST

Short Summary

This study employs a human-centric metric to evaluate heat stress across the Arabian Peninsula during 1950–2025, revealing distinct spatial patterns and a significant increasing trend in heat-related indices.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of multi-day heat waves on public health risks across the Arabian Peninsula using a percentile-based wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) metric.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional scale, focusing on the Arabian Peninsula.
• Temporal Scale: Long-term trends from 1950 to 2025, with a reference period of 1961–1990.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: ERA5-Land reanalysis data.
• Data sources: Satellite and observation-based datasets.

Main Results

• Significant increasing trend in WBGT (0.176–0.347°C decade−1) with a pronounced seasonal cycle peaking during July-August.
• Intensification of heat wave characteristics, including number, days, length, duration, magnitude, and amplitude.
• Wavelet coherence analysis indicates ENSO as the primary oceanic driver exacerbating heat waves in AP.

Contributions

• Original value of the article lies in employing a human-centric metric (percentile-based WBGT) to assess cumulative physiological strain for supporting heat-risk adaptation strategies.

Funding

• This research was funded by [project/program name and reference code, e.g., "KAUST baseline funding" or "Saudi Ministry of Education grant number XYZ"].

Citation

@article{Ullah2026Frequent,
  author = {Ullah, Safi and Buri, Vinodh K. and Ajjur, Salah Basem and Hussain, Azfar and Ullah, Waheed and Al-Ghafri, Amal A. and Al-Ansari, Tareq and Al‐Ghamdi, Sami G.},
  title = {Frequent, Intense and Prolonged Human‐Perceived Heat Waves Over the Arabian Peninsula in Recent Decades},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70510},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70510}
}