BAGHDAD   -   In the sizzling Baghdad heat, Mussa Abdallah takes to the Tigris river during the day to cool off, while others opt for ice skating to escape the relentless temperatures. “At the end of the day, I’m sweaty and exhausted because of the sun,” said Abdallah, a 21-year-old house painter in the Iraqi capital.

“At home, there’s no electricity. If I want to wash, the water is scalding hot,” he added, describing how water stored above ground virtually boils at this time of year. Iraq is grappling with a blistering summer, with temperatures often exceeding 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit), exacerbated by declining rainfall, rampant desertification and frequent dust storms.

The United Nations ranks Iraq among the world’s five most climate-vulnerable nations.

Almost every day after work, Abdallah retreats to the Tigris to escape the sweltering heat.

“We’re young and want to have a good time -- where else can we go?” the decorator said on the banks of the river, traces of white paint still visible on his temples and long-sleeved T-shirt.

While Abdallah puts his sandals back on, nearby others are taking the plunge and two bathers are washing their hair with soap. As night brings little relief from the sweltering gusts, residents of Baghdad flock to the city’s lone indoor ice rink to find respite. The rink is in one of the air-conditioned shopping malls that have sprung up in the capital in recent years, attracting up to 100 visitors on busy days, 25-year-old instructor Sajjad Mohamed said. “Twenty-four hours a day, the electricity never goes out. There’s a cooling system” for the ice, Mohamed said. Abbas, 26, discovered ice skating in Turkey. Now back in Iraq, he is pursuing it enthusiastically. “When we finish work in the afternoon, it’s either go home, or go to shopping malls and other places where it’s cold,” he said.