About 2 billion tons of dust are emitted into the atmosphere each year, equivalent in weight to 307 Great Pyramids of Giza. That’s a lot of dust!
More than 80 per cent of the global dust budget emanates from the North African and Middle Eastern deserts but it is a truly international problem, affecting more than 150 countries and impacting about 330 million people worldwide.
At best, sand and dust storms are an annoyance, causing hazy skies, dirty windows and dirty cars. But they can also have far-reaching impacts on our health and quality of life, on air and ground transport, on agriculture and the environment, and on solar energy production.
This is why the United Nations General Assembly, in resolution 77/249, proclaimed 12 July as the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, and declared the period from 2025 to 2034 the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms. The President of the General Assembly will host a high-level meeting in New York to mark the day as part of a range of activities around the globe.
At the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), we have spent the entire 75 years of our existence providing scientific support to inform action. Specifically in this instance, we play a leading role in the United Nations Coalition for Combating Sand and Dust Storms and work to build the capacity of our members – the national meteorological and hydrological services – to improve forecasts and warnings dealing with what has become a major hazard.
In this spirit, WMO produces an annual Airborne Dust Bulletin – timed, as of 2024, to appear on 12 July – highlighting hotspots, impacts, risks and progress, and challenges in forecasting and monitoring. It is recommended reading for policymakers.
How does WMO make a difference?
The WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS) was set up in 2007. It seeks to strengthen operational forecasting and warning services for various regions of the world in a globally coordinated manner, with the goal of reducing impacts on the environment, health and economies. This collaborative international partnership of research, operational and user communities facilitates the transfer of technology from research to applications serving society. WMO is grateful for all the financial and in-kind support it has received, most recently from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
At present, there are four active regions that coordinate their activities through their associated regional centres:
- the Gulf Cooperation Council region, with the associated Regional Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- the Northern Africa-Middle East-Europe region, with the associated Regional Centre in Barcelona, Spain
- Asia, with the associated Regional Centre in Beijing
- the Americas, with the associated Regional Centre in Bridgetown, Barbados.
To support the United Nations Secretary-General’s Early Warnings for All initiative, WMO is identifying those countries that define sand and dust storms as a priority hazard.
I am confident that our consolidated efforts will improve sharing data and expertise, enabling more accurate predictions. It will enhance research on dust aerosols and their effects on climate, weather and ecosystems; and improve mitigation strategies to reduce the negative impacts of sand and dust storms.
Together we can make a difference!
Indeed, we are already seeing results, even in the most vulnerable countries.
Information provided within the WMO Dust Regional Centres is now being used for the support of national alerts. In a groundbreaking development, Chad has issued its first Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) warning and started sharing real-time weather data with the global community. Burkina Faso also has a warning advisory system. Both use products provided by the Barcelona Dust Regional Centre and are funded through the Climate Risk and Early Warnings System Initiative.
Burkina Faso and Chad are two of the African countries hit annually by meningitis outbreaks, which occur during the dry season; they are part of the so-called “meningitis belt”. The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) on a meningitis early warning system, which factors in temperature and relative humidity forecasts as well as dust forecasts. Advance warnings can greatly improve health management.
Why do we need global collaboration?
At WMO, we always say that weather and climate know no borders, and that no individual country can cope on its own. Therein lies the value of the unique WMO model of data exchange.
Sand and dust storms can be transported thousands of kilometres away from their source. Saharan dust regularly crosses the Atlantic Ocean to harm air quality in the Caribbean and South America. Other hotspots include the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and central-eastern China.
There are multiple impacts. An intrusion of Saharan dust that blanketed the European Alps in March 2022 was one of the factors behind record glacier loss that year.
It’s not all bad news. Sand and dust storms tend to suppress hurricane activity in the Atlantic, and they contain nutrients that favour the fertilization of marine and continental ecosystems, positively affecting agriculture and fisheries.
The latest WMO Airborne Dust Bulletin highlights a variety of these effects, with examples of environmental degradation due to soil erosion, overgrazing, deforestation, the drying of marshes, and construction projects that have exacerbated dust emissions. The Bulletin cites a new indicator, developed with WHO, to estimate mineral dust concentrations in harmful dust particulate matter measuring 10 micrometres or less in diameter (PM10). Globally, during 2018–2022, approximately 3.8 billion people – 48.9 per cent of the world’s population – were exposed to average annual concentrations of dust-PM10 exceeding the WHO recommended annual threshold. This represents a 31 per cent increase from 2.9 billion people (44.5 per cent) affected during the 2003–2007 period.
This is just a snapshot of cascading and interconnected causes and impacts. Together, unfortunately, they combine to produce the perfect (sand and dust) storm.
Improved forecasts and warnings are therefore part of much wider international, regional and national action that is needed. In the context of sand and dust storms, WMO remains committed to doing its utmost to save lives and protect livelihoods.
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