In a Qatari football stadium for the 2022 World Cup:

“…a cool breeze was blowing. Beneath each of the 40,000 seats, small grates adorned with Arabic-style patterns were pushing out cool air at ankle level. And since cool air sinks, waves of it rolled gently down to the grassy playing field.”

Qatar has the world’s highest per capita CO2 emissions, three times those of the already ridiculously high US ones.

“Already one of the hottest places on Earth, Qatar has seen average temperatures rise more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times, the current international goal for limiting the damage of global warming.”

One of the dumbest ways to accelerate global heating is to try cooling down outside temperatures in one of the hottest places on Earth.

“Qatar has used its riches to great effect at home, where 11 winners of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize have built striking high-rises and stadiums. The result is a strange combination of avant-garde architecture, oil wealth, Islamic conservatism, shopping malls and climate change that Qatari American artist Sophia al-Maria has dubbed “Gulf Futurism.”

She added:

“With the coming global environmental collapse, to live completely indoors is like, the only way we’ll be able to survive. The Gulf’s a prophecy of what’s to come.”

We all need more positive vibes like this to get through the day.

For me, the (very sweaty) Elephant in the room is this: Why do 2.7 million people need to be living in this hellhole? And I don’t just mean the heat. Qatar is the most mind-numbingly dull place I ever had the chance to spend 24 hours in.