[PICTURES/VIDEOS] Iraq sandstorm grounds flights, sends 1,000 to hospitals

[silentkiller187]

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.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi ordered all work to cease in state-run institutions, except for health and security services, citing "poor climatic conditions and the arrival of violent sandstorms".

Air traffic was suspended at the international airports in Baghdad, Arbil and Najaf, before flights resumed at Baghdad and Arbil.

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.

Iraq's previous two sandstorms sent nearly 10,000 people to hospital with respiratory problems and killed one person.

More trees needed
The Middle East has always been battered by sandstorms, but they have become more frequent and intense in recent years.

The trend is associated with rising temperatures and water scarcity, the overuse and damming of rivers as well as overgrazing and deforestation.

Oil-rich Iraq is known in Arabic as the land of the two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, where the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia flourished.

Iraq's environment ministry has said the increased sandstorms could be countered with more vegetation cover including trees that act as windbreaks.

A major duststorm last week swept across the region, reaching Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

It left more than 1,200 people hospitalised in Riyadh alone. In Dubai, the world's tallest building was engulfed in a cloud of dust.

Experts predict the phenomenon will worsen as climate change warps regional weather patterns, further dries out and degrades soils and speeds up desertification across much of the Middle East.



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https://www.france24.com/en/live-ne...torm-grounds-flights-sends-1-000-to-hospitals

 

[silentkiller187]

In its latest update, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a code red alert for dust for many areas in the UAE. Code red means residents have to be “extremely vigilant” as “hazardous weather events of exceptional severity are forecast”. The alert is on till 10pm tonight.

The dust storm hit the western part of the UAE on Tuesday morning, bringing down visibility to less than 100 metres in some areas. Here is a scene from Al Dhafra:

The NCM said the storm would sweep over most regions of the country today.

Dusty weather conditions are expected to persist over the next few days, though its intensity will reduce gradually.

Countries in the Middle East have been hit by multiple sand storms, with flight operations in two Arab countries – Kuwait and Iraq – affected on Monday.

 

[MenInG]

Pretty dreary at the moment in the Middle East

 

[Champ_Pal]

Now we know why Arabs wear the clothes they wear. Those tiny sand particles can cause a lot of damage to the skin at high speeds.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Iraq sandstorm leaves many with breathing problems

More than a thousand people have been left with respiratory problems after a sandstorm swept across Iraq's central and southern parts of the country, health officials said.

One official in Muthanna province reported to the AFP news agency at least 700 cases of what they said was suffocation.

Footage shared online showed areas cloaked in a thick orange haze, with local media reporting power cuts and the suspension of flights in a number of regions.

Dust storms are common in Iraq, but some experts believe they are becoming more frequent due to climate change.

Pedestrians and police wore face masks to protect themselves from the dust and paramedics were on site to assist people with difficulty breathing, according to AFP.

Hospitals in Muthanna province in southern Iraq received at least "700 cases of suffocation", a local health official said.

More than 250 people were taken to hospital in Najaf province, and at least 322 patients including children were sent to hospitals in Diwaniyah province.

A further 530 people reported breathing issues in Dhi Qar and Basra provinces.

The sandstorm blanketed Iraq's southern provinces in an orange cloud that reduced visibility to less than one kilometre (0.62 mile).

The authorities were forced to shut down airports in the provinces of Najaf and Basra.

Conditions are expected to gradually improve by Tuesday morning, according to local weather services.

Iraq is listed by the UN as one of the five countries most vulnerable to climate change as it encounters regular sandstorms, sweltering heat and water scarcity.

A severe sandstorm in 2022 left one person dead and more than 5,000 needing treatment for respiratory illnesses.

Iraq will be experiencing more "dust days" in the future, according to its environment ministry.

BBC