Suhail is the second-brightest star in the sky and once guided pearl divers and Hajj pilgrims. Today, it is used in space navigation. Reem Mohammed / The National
Suhail is the second-brightest star in the sky and once guided pearl divers and Hajj pilgrims. Today, it is used in space navigation. Reem Mohammed / The National
Suhail is the second-brightest star in the sky and once guided pearl divers and Hajj pilgrims. Today, it is used in space navigation. Reem Mohammed / The National
Suhail has appeared, bringing relief to the UAE that the scorching summer days are coming to a close.
The emergence of the star every year in late August meant one thing to ancient mariners and farmers: winter is coming.
This year, Suhail returned to the skies above the UAE in the early hours of August 24.
With more people staying in the country this year because of Covid-19 and temperatures near 50°C some days, the news is a welcome relief.
According to the ancient drour calender of the Gulf, the emergence of Suhail heralds the end of the traditional pearl diving season and the beginning of clement weather.
Known as Canopus in the West, Suhail is the second-brightest start in the sky after Sirius and once guided pearl divers and Hajj pilgrims as they navigated across sea and sand. Today, it is used in space navigation.
The 365-day drour calendar measures the year in 10-day cycles – these micro seasons are known in Arabic as dir. It has four seasons, with 100 days allocated to autumn, winter and summer, followed by a 60-day season of intense heat. Five "stolen days" are added for turbulent weather.
Hazy weather descends on Dubai as summer reaches its peak. Antonie Robertson / The National
Traffic passes through Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road as hot and hazy weather hits the city. Pawan Singh / The National
Temperatures in parts of the UAE inched towards 50°C as the UAE hits peak summer. Pawan Singh / The National
Dubai Metro passes down the Expo 2020 route underneath hazy skies in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National
Dubai's skyscrapers emerge from the haze on the Sheikh Zayed Road. Pawan Singh / The National
Dubai's Burj Khalifa looms in the background as hot and hazy weather hits the city. Antonie Robertson / The National
Traffic passes through an underpass as Dubai enters the peak of summer. Antonie Robertson / The National
But don’t expect to turn off the air conditioning just yet. According to the drour, good weather does not begin until 70 to 80 days after Suhail rises. Traditionally, this is when palm pollination and camel grazing can begin.
If it still feels oppressively hot in the coming weeks, don't blame the drour. The centuries-old calendar is possibly off kilter. Elders say climate change has dimmed its accuracy and Suhail may no longer the infallible guiding light it once was.
In the meantime, this weekend’s weather looks promising. There will be cloudy skies on the east coast and a chance of rain, with temperatures falling as low as a balmy 30°C.
Day trippers can also flee the heat by heading to Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah, where temperatures dropped to 19°C on Wednesday morning, and temperatures are predicted to dip as low as 20°C this weekend, with a high of 36°C. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, temperatures will range from 33°C to 40°C this weekend.
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024. It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine. Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages]. The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts. With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world. The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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