Not only have the intensity and frequency of sand and dust storms increased over the last 15 years, but the United Nations Environmental Program is warning that some countries could see more than twice as many in the next decade due to increased desertification around the world.
Many countries across the Middle East are affected by sandstorms all year round, however the region has witnessed an increase in the storms during the past decade. The rising trend seems to be worsening by the day.
"In the Middle East there has been a significant increase in the frequency and the intensity of sand and dust storms in the past 15 years or so," Enric Terradellas a meteorologist with the World Meteorology Organization's sand and dust storm prediction center, said, according to the BBC .
Iran and Kuwait are the two most affected countries, due to the sand and dust blowing in from Syria and Iraq, according to the UN.
Moreover, unsustainable mining, oil extraction, agriculture and intensive military conflicts are causing the trend to worsen.
According to the BBC report, Iraq could witness 300 dust events a year within 10 years.
The sandstorms have taken a toll on the health of people living in the affected areas, killing around 7 million people per year. Storms occurring across the Sahara desert are believed to spread lethal meningitis throughout central Africa.
"A dust storm consists of massive amount of particulates in the air and when people breathe it, these can get down their lungs and cause respiratory illness and heart disease and so on," Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, a health and climate change expert with the World Health Organisation, said, according to the BBC .
Observed on June 17, the World Day to Combat Desertification advocates for the importance of cooperation to restore and rehabilitate degraded land, an overlooked component in sustainable development over the years.