WMO Warns of Dangers of Sand and Dust Storms

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has revealed that the amount of dust in the atmosphere decreased slightly in 2023, warning that poor environmental management increases the risk of sand and dust storms. The WMO stated, in a report on the occasion of the World Day to Combat Sand and Dust Storms, which falls on July 12, "Every year, about 2,000 million tons of dust enter the atmosphere, obscuring the sky and harming air quality in areas that may be thousands of kilometers apart from each other. "It also affects economies, ecosystems, weather and climate." The report indicated that in 2023, the average surface dust concentration was slightly lower than in 2022, mainly due to lower dust emissions in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, northern India, central Australia, the Iranian plateau, and northwest China. "Scientific data indicate that human activities affect sand and dust storms," said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, "for example, highe r temperatures, drought, and increased evaporation lead to a decrease in soil moisture.", she noted The most violent sandstorm of 2023, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), was the one that swept Mongolia and northern China in March, whose violent winds and dust gave the sky an alarming orange color. The WMO confirmed that this "led to a massive deterioration in air quality" in some areas, exceeding "9,000 micrograms per cubic meter." Source: Qatar News Agency