Nicosia - (AFP) - A new climate study showed that the Middle East region is getting warmer twice more than the global average, which could have devastating effects on its people and economies.

As a result, more than 400 million people in the region are at risk of exposure to extreme heat waves, prolonged drought, and rising sea levels, according to the study, to which a large number of researchers contributed and whose results were published two months before the United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) hosted by Egypt. .

The study showed an average increase of 0.45 degrees Celsius per decade in the Middle East and the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, based on data collected between 1981 and 2019, when the global average increase was 0.27 degrees per decade.

The study warns that, in the absence of immediate changes, the region's average temperature is expected to rise by five degrees Celsius by the end of the century, which could exceed "critical thresholds for human adaptation" in some countries.

Populations "will face significant health and livelihood challenges, including disadvantaged communities, the elderly and pregnant women," says Yos Lielefeld of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Cyprus Institute, two entities that contributed to the study.

The study covers the region from Greece to Egypt, passing through Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.

The study indicates that the Middle East region will not only suffer greatly from climate change, but will also be a major contributor to its occurrence. The results show that this oil-rich region could soon become one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, overtaking the European Union within a few years.

"Since the repercussions of climate change transcend borders, close cooperation between the countries concerned is necessary to deal with the harmful effects of this phenomenon," Lelieveld adds.

George Zitis, one of the authors of the study, warns that the expansion of arid zones and sea level rise "will lead to significant changes in coastal areas and agriculture", especially in Egypt's Nile Delta.

According to the study, "almost all areas of life" will be "severely affected" by increased rates of heat and drought. This is likely to contribute to an increase in the death rate and exacerbate the "disparities between the rich and the poorest" in the region.

In November, representatives of about two hundred countries are scheduled to meet at the "COP27" conference in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea, to follow up on the situation in terms of commitments related to the Paris Agreement signed in 2015, which aims to contain global warming. by less than 2°C by 2100, and if possible by less than 1.5°C.

The planet's temperature has risen by about 1.2 degrees since the pre-industrial era. In May, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization said there was a one in two chance of reaching the 1.5°C target within the next five years.