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More than 550 pilgrims die in Mecca as temps exceed 50

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MaxE
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18 Jun 2024, 9:10 pm

Not posting this as a statement on Islam.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/18/hundreds-of-hajj-pilgrims-die-in-mecca-from-heat-related-illness


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IsabellaLinton
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18 Jun 2024, 9:22 pm

That's horrendous. I can't imagine.

A humid 43 (109.5) here tomorrow with "record shattering heat possible".


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naturalplastic
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18 Jun 2024, 9:58 pm

American here.

52 celsius is....lemme google...equal to...

125.6 F

8O

Low humidity to be sure. But...WOW.

No wonder they drop like flies.

And the temps will keep rising by .72 F each year from now on.



Last edited by naturalplastic on 18 Jun 2024, 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

IsabellaLinton
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18 Jun 2024, 9:59 pm

I'm guessing Mecca's not air-conditioned either. :ninja:


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naturalplastic
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18 Jun 2024, 10:06 pm

Its a whole city. Not a building.

It hosts for a religion of 1.4 billion people ...each of whom hopes to make the pilgrimage sometime in their lifetime.

If each Muslim lives "three score plus ten", and each makes it to the site for that one time only...that would be 20 million pilgrims a year.



Last edited by naturalplastic on 18 Jun 2024, 10:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

IsabellaLinton
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18 Jun 2024, 10:06 pm

I know. I was joking.


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Tim_Tex
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18 Jun 2024, 10:19 pm

Yet Dubai was underwater just a few weeks ago.


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naturalplastic
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19 Jun 2024, 7:20 am

Yeah.
Both victims of climate change.



roronoa79
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19 Jun 2024, 12:59 pm

This is a disgrace. Saudi Arabia's elite are flush with cash. If they are going to scream about being the stewards of Islam's holy sites, they should at least actually invest in holy sites to make these pilgrimages safe. The Hajj involves thousands of people at a time in the blistering Arabian summer. We have (and have had for decades) the technology and medicine and resources to make even that completely safe. None of those people should have to worry about surviving a pilgrimage.


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MaxE
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19 Jun 2024, 1:17 pm

roronoa79 wrote:
This is a disgrace. Saudi Arabia's elite are flush with cash. If they are going to scream about being the stewards of Islam's holy sites, they should at least actually invest in holy sites to make these pilgrimages safe. The Hajj involves thousands of people at a time in the blistering Arabian summer. We have (and have had for decades) the technology and medicine and resources to make even that completely safe. None of those people should have to worry about surviving a pilgrimage.

I can't imagine what sort of technological fix could effectively mitigate the risk faced by those visiting Mt. Arafat. Maybe providing some sort of cooled shelter to which those in danger of succumbing could be taken? I am also wondering if the commandment can be fulfilled at night — not a Muslim so I wouldn't know. If so, perhaps the Saudis could deploy some sort of infrastructure to support that.


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19 Jun 2024, 3:28 pm

God's just picking out the ones he wants to meet face-to-face. :nerdy:


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naturalplastic
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19 Jun 2024, 3:43 pm

Tim_Tex wrote:
Yet Dubai was underwater just a few weeks ago.


It was just a little dew on the ground.

Dubai, Dubai, Deeeewwwww....



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19 Jun 2024, 4:14 pm

The whole world is going to burst into flames like that nightmare I once had when I was a teenager. And we all know only bad dreams come true, so...



r00tb33r
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19 Jun 2024, 6:57 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
Yeah.
Both victims of climate change.

Eh, in another 60-70k years it will all be ice again.



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19 Jun 2024, 7:23 pm

r00tb33r wrote:
naturalplastic wrote:
Yeah.
Both victims of climate change.

Eh, in another 60-70k years it will all be ice again.


Again?

The Ice never reached that far south even during the glacial maximum. Climate is changing far faster than nature would do it.



cyberdad
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28 Jun 2024, 10:05 pm

roronoa79 wrote:
This is a disgrace. Saudi Arabia's elite are flush with cash. If they are going to scream about being the stewards of Islam's holy sites, they should at least actually invest in holy sites to make these pilgrimages safe. The Hajj involves thousands of people at a time in the blistering Arabian summer. We have (and have had for decades) the technology and medicine and resources to make even that completely safe. None of those people should have to worry about surviving a pilgrimage.


My understanding of islam is that a Hajj means "pilgrimage made to the Kaaba", a long pious journey taken by Muslims to cleanse their souls of all worldly sins, which connotes both the outward act of a journey after death and the inward act of good intentions.

With that in mind I doubt travelling in an airconditioned bus with inhouse movies and dining paid for by the Saudi Arabian government will leave the pilgrim feeling they have atoned for their sins. the act of pilgrimage is a form of necessary hardship to be endured so global warming withstanding will continue.

What the Saudi Arabian government could do, is during times of high temperature issue warnings (particularly to older people and those with health issues) and have regular water stations and medical staff stationed at regular intervals equipped for first aid and transport to hospitals if necessary.