Baghdad: A sand storm has covered parts of India Middle East on Monday, including IraqSyria and Iran, sending people to hospitals and disrupting flights in some places. It was the latest in a series of unprecedented nearly back-to-back sandstorms this year that have rattled residents and raised alarm among experts and officials, who blame climate change and poor government regulations.
From Riyadh to Tehran, bright orange skies and a thick curtain of grit signaled another stormy day on Monday. Sandstorms are driven by seasonal winds in late spring and summer. But this year they have happened almost every week in Iraq since March.
Iraqi officials declared the day a national holiday, urging government employees and residents to stay home in anticipation of the 10th storm to hit the country in the past two months. Ministry of Health Stored canisters of oxygen at facilities in inaccessible areas, according to a statement.
The storm has sent thousands to hospitals and killed at least one in Iraq and three in the east of Syria.
“This is a region-wide issue but each country has a different degree of vulnerability and weakness,” Jaffer said. jotheriA geoarchaeologist at Al-Qadisiyah University in Baghdad.
Syrian state TV said medical departments in Syria were put on alert as the sandstorm hit the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, which borders Iraq. Earlier this month, a similar storm in the region killed at least three people and left hundreds hospitalized with shortness of breath.
Doctor. Bashar ShoyubiThe head of the Ministry of Health’s office in Deir al-Zour told state TV that hospitals are ready and ambulances are on standby. He said that they have obtained additional 850 oxygen tanks and necessary medicine to deal with asthma patients.
Heavy sand storms have hit parts of Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia this month.
For the second time this month, Kuwait International Airport canceled all flights on Monday due to dust. The video showed largely empty roads with low visibility.
Saudi Arabia’s Meteorological Association said visibility on roads in the capital Riyadh would drop to zero this week. Officials warned drivers to move slowly. This month, 1,285 patients in the city’s emergency rooms complained that they could not breathe properly.
Iran closed schools and government offices last week due to a sand storm in Tehran’s capital. It was most affected in the country’s southwest desert region of Khuzestan, where more than 800 people sought treatment for breathing difficulties. Dozens of flights originating from western Iran were canceled or delayed.
Blame has been mounted on dust storms and heavy air pollution, with a leading environmental expert telling local media that climate change, drought and government mismanagement of water resources are to blame for the increase in sandstorms. Iran has drained its wetlands for farming – a common practice known to generate dust in the region.
Alireza ShariatThe head of a consortium of Iranian water engineers told Iran’s semi-official ILNA news agency last month that he expected the widespread dust storm to become an “annual springtime event” in a way Iran had never seen before. .
Geoarchaeologist Zotheri said desertification is increasing the intensity of the storm due to record-less rainfall in Iraq. In a lot of desert areas, in low-lying areas, the effect is almost double, he said.
“Due to 17 years of mismanagement of water and urbanization, Iraq lost more than two-thirds of its green cover,” he said. “This is why Iraqis are complaining more than their neighbors about sand storms in their regions.”
From Riyadh to Tehran, bright orange skies and a thick curtain of grit signaled another stormy day on Monday. Sandstorms are driven by seasonal winds in late spring and summer. But this year they have happened almost every week in Iraq since March.
Iraqi officials declared the day a national holiday, urging government employees and residents to stay home in anticipation of the 10th storm to hit the country in the past two months. Ministry of Health Stored canisters of oxygen at facilities in inaccessible areas, according to a statement.
The storm has sent thousands to hospitals and killed at least one in Iraq and three in the east of Syria.
“This is a region-wide issue but each country has a different degree of vulnerability and weakness,” Jaffer said. jotheriA geoarchaeologist at Al-Qadisiyah University in Baghdad.
Syrian state TV said medical departments in Syria were put on alert as the sandstorm hit the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, which borders Iraq. Earlier this month, a similar storm in the region killed at least three people and left hundreds hospitalized with shortness of breath.
Doctor. Bashar ShoyubiThe head of the Ministry of Health’s office in Deir al-Zour told state TV that hospitals are ready and ambulances are on standby. He said that they have obtained additional 850 oxygen tanks and necessary medicine to deal with asthma patients.
Heavy sand storms have hit parts of Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia this month.
For the second time this month, Kuwait International Airport canceled all flights on Monday due to dust. The video showed largely empty roads with low visibility.
Saudi Arabia’s Meteorological Association said visibility on roads in the capital Riyadh would drop to zero this week. Officials warned drivers to move slowly. This month, 1,285 patients in the city’s emergency rooms complained that they could not breathe properly.
Iran closed schools and government offices last week due to a sand storm in Tehran’s capital. It was most affected in the country’s southwest desert region of Khuzestan, where more than 800 people sought treatment for breathing difficulties. Dozens of flights originating from western Iran were canceled or delayed.
Blame has been mounted on dust storms and heavy air pollution, with a leading environmental expert telling local media that climate change, drought and government mismanagement of water resources are to blame for the increase in sandstorms. Iran has drained its wetlands for farming – a common practice known to generate dust in the region.
Alireza ShariatThe head of a consortium of Iranian water engineers told Iran’s semi-official ILNA news agency last month that he expected the widespread dust storm to become an “annual springtime event” in a way Iran had never seen before. .
Geoarchaeologist Zotheri said desertification is increasing the intensity of the storm due to record-less rainfall in Iraq. In a lot of desert areas, in low-lying areas, the effect is almost double, he said.
“Due to 17 years of mismanagement of water and urbanization, Iraq lost more than two-thirds of its green cover,” he said. “This is why Iraqis are complaining more than their neighbors about sand storms in their regions.”