Oman sweats through hottest October in two decades

Muscat: Unusual weather patterns have brought Oman a scorching October this year, with the country's skies remaining hazy, humid, and sun-soaked. Normally, by this time, Oman experiences clear skies, decreased humidity, and milder sunrays, heralding the onset of its "winter" season. However, this year, the anticipated coolness has been unusually delayed.

Oman's Meteorology department reported this Tuesday that October 2023 stands as the hottest October in approximately last two decades. Astonishingly, some weather monitoring stations of the Met Office have clocked temperatures exceeding 44 degrees Celsius this October.

For this October, the Fahud station in Ad Dhahira governorate secured the top spot with a scorching 44.9 degrees Celsius, followed closely by Sur in South Sharqiyah governorate at 44.7 degrees Celsius. The highest October temperature previously recorded in Fahud was 44.7 degrees Celsius in 1989, while in 1997, Sur reached a high of 43.4 degrees Celsius.

Oman's Meteorology office attributes this unusually hot October to a spike in air pressure that began early in the month. Numerous other weather stations across the Sultanate have also recorded unusually high October temperatures.

Qarn al Alam registered 44.2 degrees Celsius (compared to 43.6 degrees Celsius in 2015), Adam station recorded 43.9 degrees Celsius (up from 43.3 in 2015), Rustaq hit 43.8 degrees Celsius (surpassing 43.1 degrees Celsius in 2015), Samail reached 43.6 degrees Celsius (compared to 41.9 in 2015), Ibra recorded 42.8 (compared to 41.6 in 2010), Bahla measured 42.8 (compared to 41.7 in 2015), Marmul noted 42.1 (up from 41.6 in 2015), and Khasab Port recorded the lowest October temperature at 41.5, among all other stations. Khasab Port's previous high was 41.4 in 1982 since the establishment of these stations some 20 years ago.

"We typically commence our hiking season in early October each year. However, this year, due to the intense sun and humid conditions, we haven't ventured outdoors yet," expressed Mubarak Moosa, an avid hiker from Muscat.

The Sultanate of Oman's National Strategy for Adaptation and Mitigation for Climate Change (2020-2040) is emphasizing the use of advanced tools to track historical climate trends and better comprehend future climate change.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, and the Environment Authority (EA) are all actively supporting measures aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of climate change, particularly in limiting the annual temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, as opposed to the current predictions of over 2.5 degrees Celsius.

Oman is not alone in experiencing unusual weather, as countries around the world have been facing extended periods of warm and prolonged summers. This year is on track to be the hottest ever recorded, with the previous month being the warmest September on record, according to a report by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

The report indicates that the global temperature for January-September 2023 is 0.52 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the historical average. This figure even surpasses the first nine months of the warmest calendar year, 2016, by 0.05 degrees Celsius.

Scientists attribute these extreme weather conditions, including heatwaves and storms, to climate change fueled by the burning of fossil fuels.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has voiced its concerns about these extraordinary land and sea-surface temperature anomalies, emphasizing the alarming rate at which greenhouse gases (GHG) are altering the climate.

Petteri Taalas, the Secretary-General of the WMO, remarked, "The temperature anomalies are enormous – far bigger than anything we have ever seen in the past. Antarctic winter sea ice extent was the lowest on record for the time of year."