Jon Alterman talks with Elfatih Eltahir, professor of hydrology and climate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, about climate change and rising temperatures across the Middle East. Professor Eltahir explains what 'wet bulb' temperature means, and why governments should plan future cities away from the coast in order to cope with extreme heat. Then, Jon, Will Todman, and McKinley Knoop discuss climate change mitigation efforts in the Middle East.

Suchul Kang, Jeremy Pal, Elfatih Eltahir, "Future Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed 'Extreme Danger' Levels," Geophysical Research Letters, June 25, 2019.

Elfatih Eltahir, short educational videos, Eltahir Research Group.

Jeremy S. Pal and Elfatih Eltahir, “Future temperature in southwest Asia projected to exceed a threshold for human adaptability," Nature Climate Change, October 26, 2015.

Jon Alterman and Michael Dziuban, Clear Gold, CSIS, December 2010.

Episode Transcript, "Rising Temperatures in the Middle East," CSIS, December 29, 2020.