A Bahraini study, published last week, entitled “Rising Temperatures and Its Potential Impacts on Human Health in the Kingdom of Bahrain: A Call to Action” indicated that climate change may have a significant impact on public health in Bahrain in the coming years, as rising temperatures are likely to cause heat stress, a deterioration in cardiovascular health, and an increase in infectious diseases.
This study was conducted by Dr. Ghadeer Kazim and Dr. Sabah Al-Junaid from the Arabian Gulf University, and Dr. Hamoud Nasser from the University of Bahrain. The study was published in the scientific journal “Earth,” which is a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The study relied on the analysis of global data on both thermal anomalies (i.e., unusual extreme values) and the rate of infections and deaths resulting from heart and circulatory diseases. It was found that the high data for both the rates of increase in temperature and the rates of increase in infections and deaths from cardiovascular diseases were remarkably consistent in most countries in the Middle East region, including the countries of the Arabian Gulf, which This means that there is an urgent need for joint action to confront the threat of increasing mortality and injury rates resulting from these diseases.
This is consistent with what was previously published by Professor Dr. Randa Hamada, a professor at the Arabian Gulf University. The researchers pointed out that there is a close relationship between climate change, public health, and the sustainable development goals, which cannot be achieved in isolation from human health and well-being.
This study also examined temperature anomalies in Bahrain, specifically in the period from 1960 to 2023, through which it was shown that the years after 1998 in which the temperature began to increase steadily, such that the increase in some years reached about 4 additional degrees Celsius than it was in the sixties, seventies and eighties. The potential effects on human health were verified by applying an approved heat stress index. By the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which relies in its analysis on variations in temperature and humidity to identify their potential effects on health. This indicator showed an extreme risk to human health in the summer months, the end of the spring months, and the beginning of the fall.
Furthermore, this study proposed solutions to support the achievement of health-related sustainable development goals in the Kingdom of Bahrain through developing health data, raising awareness, and building local capacities in the field of health and care.
