#sand storms

Excerpt from this story from World War Zero:

Last month, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa -- the tallest building in the world -- vanished in the midst of an intense dust storm. Also in Iraq, sand and dust storms have occurred almost every week since March. Across the Middle East region, these storms are becoming increasingly intense as climate change continues, putting a pause on daily life and impacting economies. Basic infrastructure and services, from airports to schools, temporarily shut down during last month’s storms, stopping the movement of people, education, and flow of goods. These weather events also carry serious health impacts. At least 1,200 people were hospitalized in Saudi Arabia and over 5,000 in Iraq from storms earlier this year.

"Climate change causes the storms, and the storms exacerbate the impacts of climate change. Socio-economic life revolves around weather patterns, so livelihoods are severely threatened,” Banafsheh Keynoush wrote in an article covering the storms, published earlier this year.

The increasing intensity of sand and dust storms causes a range of problems, including heightened health risks, as inhaling the small particles causes immediate breathing problems. They’re an economic concern, both for individuals unable to work in such conditions and for the broader network of international trade that passes through the Middle East. The World Bank estimates the storms lead to $13 billion in losses annually, taking into account earlier deaths and lower crop yields. In addition, the events exacerbate existing water scarcity issues, as droughts and low river levels continue; and armed groups like ISIS have started carrying out attacks under the cover of storms.

 Iraq closed public buildings and temporarily shut airports Monday as another sandstorm -- the ninth since mid-April -- hit the country.

More than 1,000 people were hospitalised across the nation with respiratory problems, health ministry spokesman Seif al-Badr told AFP.

Flights were also grounded in neighbouring Kuwait for a second time this month, as the region grapples with the increasingly frequent weather phenomenon.

The Iraqi capital Baghdad was enveloped in a giant dust cloud that left usually traffic-choked streets largely deserted and bathed in an eery orange light, AFP correspondents said.

[...]

Iraq is ranked as one of the world's five most vulnerable nations to climate change and desertification.

The environment ministry has warned that over the next two decades Iraq could endure an average of 272 days of sandstorms per year, rising to above 300 by 2050.

Another sandstorm that descended Monday on Iraq sent at least 2,000 people to hospital with breathing problems and led to the closure of airports, schools and public offices across the country.

It is the eighth duststorm since mid-April to hit Iraq, which has been battered by soil degradation, intense droughts and low rainfall linked to climate change.

The last one earlier this month led to the death of one person while 5,000 others had to be hospitalised for respiratory problems.

On Monday a thick cloud of dust enveloped the capital Baghdad in an orange glow and blanketed many other cities including the Shiite shrine city of Najaf to the south, and Sulaimaniyah, in the northern Kurdish autonomous region, AFP correspondents said.

Yellow and orange sand covered building roofs, cars and even crept into homes.

Authorities in seven of Iraq's 18 provinces, including Baghdad, ordered government offices to shut.

But health facilities remained open to assist those most at risk, including the elderly and people suffering from chronic respiratory diseases and heart ailments.

By midday at least 2,000 people were admitted to hospitals across Iraq in need of oxygen, said health ministry spokesman Seif al-Badr.