ResearchGate published a research study that found that loose white clothing, such as the Saudi thobe, reflects 70% of sunlight and is designed in harmony with the physics of the desert climate. When a person moves, it creates what is called the chimney effect, expelling hot air from the top at the neck and allowing cooler air to enter from below, as if it were a natural air conditioner.

Estimates from the National Center for Meteorology suggest that the summer of 2026 will be different, as it indicated that temperatures in Saudi Arabia, specifically between July and August, will exceed their usual heat each year, rising by an average of 1.6 degrees Celsius in most regions of the Kingdom. Saudi society has become accustomed to coping with summer by rearranging their daily activities outside peak sunlight hours, in a way that differs from practices in Western countries, though not completely opposed to them. For example, productivity in Western culture since the Industrial Revolution has been built on maximizing daylight hours as times for continuous work, while we find a different situation in the Arabian Peninsula. The phenomenon of the midday siesta (al-qaylulah) has become deeply rooted among the Bedouin during the noon and afternoon periods, during which all forms of life and commerce temporarily cease until after sunset. This practice is ancient, predating the birth of Christ, peace be upon him, and remains present to this day.

Evidence of this is that peak summer commercial activity in Riyadh and Jeddah is bustling between 9 PM and 2 AM, compared to 2 PM to 5 PM in Paris and London. Café and restaurant sales jump after midnight by 40% in the two Saudi cities, while they drop sharply after 8 PM in their European counterparts. This is not a Western advantage; a realistic study published in The Lancet medical journal in 2023 stated that high temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius automatically cause the body to secrete the sleep hormone melatonin at inappropriate times, leading to summer lethargy. The people of Saudi Arabia manage this genetically and behaviorally through naps (qaylulah), which help them utilize their full energy during the cool night.

Another thing: according to a study by Harvard University in the United States, published in 2018, it was observed that mental productivity decreases by 13% when working in hot environments. Saudis intuitively understand this, which explains why they shift their important work to evening sessions, when the mind is at its highest alertness. In the summer midday sun, Westerners tend to go to public parks, jogging or camping, while Saudis prefer air-conditioned sports—meaning they put on their athletic shoes after Maghrib and engage in brisk walking inside the corridors of malls or air-conditioned commercial complexes, using their wide spaces as an alternative.

The above is known as 'environmental malling,' which was observed among Saudi families in a study published by the British journal Urban Studies in 2024. It explained how they spend up to six hours a day in malls, just for strolling and walking in an environment cooled to 22 degrees Celsius. According to CBRE, a global real estate consultancy, in 2025, the demand for these places rises in Saudi Arabia by 30% during the summer months, while it decreases by 25% in Europe during the same period, because Westerners prefer beaches and open nature.

ResearchGate platform published a study in 2023 on the effect of colors and clothing quality on heat transfer, stating that it is a climate decision par excellence. It found that loose white clothing, like the Saudi thobe, reflects 70% of direct sunlight and is designed in harmony with desert climate physics. When a person moves, it creates what is called the chimney effect, expelling hot air from the top at the neck and allowing cooler air to enter from below, as if it were a natural air conditioner. Meanwhile, tight Western clothing sticks to the body and traps sweat and heat.

The most costly negative behaviors locally during the summer period are what Nature Climate Change magazine discussed in 2024. It noted that repeated and sudden transitions throughout the day from street heat in the forties (Celsius) to excessive centralized air conditioning in the workplace, which ranges between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius, weakens the respiratory system's immunity by 50% and causes acute summer colds. Laws in Western countries require government and private entities to set their air conditioning between 23 and 24 degrees Celsius to avoid economic waste of energy from excessive cooling, which the Saudi National Center for Energy Efficiency estimated at about 22%. Since the problem is known, we need similar local legislation and the inclusion of a class period for morning sun exposure, assessed for general education students at the end of the year based on their vitamin D deficiency or excess, especially since the scientific journal PLOS ONE revealed two years ago that 70% of the total population of the Kingdom has a deficiency in this vitamin—a rate among the highest globally. Paradoxically, cloudy Britain, which rarely sees the sun, has better numbers. The reason in the Saudi case is avoidance of sun and heat for inexplicable reasons. Most importantly, unless these behaviors stop, they will lead to a chronic national lethargy crisis and bone and immune problems that cannot be compensated by supplements.