Met warns of rising dust as heatwave to continue

The current spell of heatwave will continue for another week, according to Oman Meteorology.

An official at Oman Met told the 'Observer' that the current spell of heatwave would continue this week. Temperatures, however, would drop to the 30s by April 18.

"It is expected to rise again towards the following weekend."

Oman Met has indicated chances of dust rising due to fresh winds over the desert and open areas. Chances of late night to early morning low-level clouds or fog patches over parts of South al Sharqiyah and Al Wusta governorates.

Horizontal visibility may reduce during fog formation and dust rising, but it will be mainly good.

The hottest places predicted for Monday are Al Seeb (42°C), Al Amerat (41°C), followed by Al Buraimi (40°C), Fahud (43°C), Adam (42°C). Suhar, Rustaq, Nizwa, and Sur will also have temperatures above the 40s.

"We expected the temperatures to be milder during the fasting month of Ramadhan, and that has been not the case earlier. But still, days are shorter and a reprieve for us'', Sulaiman, a resident of Marbella, said.

Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, the following places recorded the highest and lowest temperatures.

According to experts, the average high temperature seen in Muscat during April is generally 34.7 degrees Celsius, while low temperatures are generally around 24.7 degrees Celsius.

Several countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar reported strong dust storms from Iraq.

Meanwhile, warning of extreme months ahead, the United Nations in a new report has warned unless nations drastically accelerate efforts over the next few years to slash their emissions from coal, oil and natural gas, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, will likely be out of reach by the end of this decade.

Scientists say the dangers of global warming, including worsening floods, droughts, and ecosystem collapse, are growing considerably.

Holding warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius would require nations to collectively reduce their planet-warming emissions by roughly 43 percent by 2030 and stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by the early 2050s, the report found. By contrast, current policies by governments are only expected to reduce global emissions by a few percentage points this decade. Last year, fossil fuel emissions worldwide rebounded to near-record highs after a brief dip because of the coronavirus pandemic.