He went to Saudi Arabia to perform the sacred hajj pilgrimage – then the heat came. This is Zirrar Ali’s story
Location: Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Disaster: Heatwave, 2024
After a transformative experience in Iran, Zirrar Ali quit his corporate 9-5 job and began travel writing. Seven years later, he and his elderly father were participating in the sacred five-day Muslim pilgrimage, the hajj, when temperatures soared to more than 51C. The climate crisis has already made peak temperatures in Mecca about 2C hotter than in preindustrial times.