OCTOBER 2022

FEATURE
STORMS continued from page 21
together are turning more of the region’s
soil into sand.
Economic impact
Dust is not just a matter of public
health anymore — it can bring a region’s
economic activity to a halt if
concentrations are high enough. Costs
range from ruined agricultural crops
and damaged machinery to the closure
of ports and airports and hours
spent cleaning up roads and other infrastructure.
More and more sandstorms are hitting
countries in the Middle East, with
officials blaming climate change and
poor water management. The region
loses about $13 billion a year because
of sandstorms, which damage buildings,
powerlines, and other vital infrastructure,
kill crops, and interrupt
transportation, among other effects.
The most recent string of sandstorms
has been attributed to intense drought
in North Africa, as well as along the Tigris
and Euphrates basins.
The problems go beyond Iraq’s borders.
Dust storms take on planetary dimensions.
While around 45 countries
produce dust storms, 151 countries
experience them. As is often the case
with climate change, the effects are
most keenly felt by the poor. Iraq is
struggling in the wake of years of sanctions,
invasion, occupation, and civil
war.
Societal impact
Travelling thousands of kilometers,
each sand and dust storm can wreak
havoc through a dozen countries. They
damage buildings, powerlines, and
other vital infrastructure, kill crops,
reduce visibility for drivers and interrupt
air, rail, and water transportation,
according to a 2019 report from
the World Bank.
In April and May of this year, dust
storms blanketed parts of the Middle
East, worsening air quality and impacting
daily life in countries including
Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and the United
Arab Emirates.
Iraq was hit by a total of nine dust
storms this year that affected everything
from schools’ final exams to
traffic in ports and airports. Around
35,000 people had to go to the hospital
and at least three people died, according
to the country’s Health Ministry. In
Dubai, schools canceled outdoor activities
for a week.
Politics and mismanaged resources
In a low-lying country with plenty of
desert regions, the impact of drought
is almost double. Because of more
than 17 years of mismanagement of
water and urbanization, Iraq lost more
than two-thirds of its green cover. That
is why Iraqis are complaining more
than their neighbors about the sandstorms
in their areas.
According to scientists at the Barcelona
Dust Regional Center, “Dust
storms have no borders, and we need
to attack them at the source; what happens
in Iraq impacts Kuwait, Qatar,
and Saudi Arabia, so we need monitoring
everywhere so we can improve
forecasts.”
While countries in the region have
been slow to protect themselves from
the storms, some are taking note. Experts
argue more needs to be done and
if countries don’t act soon, the consequences
for the region will be devastating.
Dangers posed by sand and
dust storms have been overlooked by
local and international governments
for too long.
Tense political relations between
some of the countries hardest hit by
sandstorms hamper dust diplomacy
and stall negotiations on how to tackle
the problem. The dismantling of the
Iraqi state after the 2003 U.S. invasion
has left Iraqis with a political system
incapable of responding even to shortterm
problems, never mind the forms
More and more sandstorms are hitting
countries in the Middle East, with
officials blaming climate change and
poor water management.
of long-term planning needed to prevent
and mitigate ecological crises.
Some nations are working to fight
the dust storms, with Saudi Arabia
committing to planting 10 billion trees
— an ambitious goal for a country with
limited renewable water resources
within its own borders. The country is
home to the world’s largest sand desert.
The U.N. set up the Sand and Dust
Storm Coalition in 2018. It is mandated
to facilitate knowledge exchange, work
on collaborations towards solutions
and funding, increase dialogue between
affected countries, and build capacities
to mitigate harmful effects. But
there is a risk that long-term negotiation
will not be able to face the immediate
harms that climate catastrophe is
already bringing on countries like Iraq.
The increase in droughts is a particular
concern. Affected countries
should invest in early warning and
forecasting systems, craft more efficient
water and land management policies,
and put in place insurance and
social protection measures to help the
most vulnerable communities recover
from the storms.
Iraq’s sandstorms are threatening
life in the Fertile Crescent. It’s time
the Iraqi government takes a stance.
In April 2020, Iraq announced it would
rehabilitate ten oases in its Western
Desert to combat the increase in dust
storms. But many of these projects
have reportedly stalled due to financial
reasons.
Environmental experts claim that
existing measures are not enough to
prepare the region for the extreme
dust storms that worsening climate
change could bring.
Iraq’s last stance
In the 1980s, an estimated thirty million
date palm trees were growing in
Iraq. However, due to actions taken by
the Ba’athist regime under Iraqi Dictator
Saddam Hussein and a chaotic
post-2003 invasion, Iraq currently has
less than twelve million palm trees.
What can Iraq do? The Iraqi government
must adopt a cultural and
legislative overhaul that is more ecoconscious,
so that every citizen is selfaware
of how they contribute to the
demise of an inhabitable Iraq.
In 1995, Iraq had some of the
world’s most productive soils, with
agriculture representing more than
18 percent of the nation’s economy.
Today, however, it accounts for less
than 2 percent. Modern irrigation
techniques—such as drip and spray irrigation—need
to become the norm in
Iraq, for these techniques significantly
reduce water loss by farmers.
Other solutions include the Iraqi
government creating environmental reserves
with diverse plants and animals
far from population centers. These reserves
will serve as more vital vegetation
cover and will also serve as a catalyst for
new ecosystems to prosper in Iraq.
Iraq officials now talk about climate
change as the reason for all of
this. Climate change is part of it, but
it has become an easy excuse for not
acting. They could have worked on
this matter 20 or 30 years ago and prevented
this thing from getting more
severe, avoiding, or mitigating these
sandstorms. Iraqi officials are used to
reacting, not acting proactively.
The problem took 40 years to develop.
It’s going to take a lot longer
to recover. But one thing that we have
learned from history is that nature can
heal itself if given the chance.
Sources: The World Meteorological
Organization (WMO), Wikipedia, The
Monitor, Reuters, Thomson Reuters
Foundation, Bloomberg Green,
Sara Basart, Muhammad Baqir
Muhyedeen, Sophie Tremblay, CNN
Journal of Natural Science (Varoujan
K. Sissakian, Nadhir Al-Ansari, and
Sven Knutsson). Special editing by
Jacqueline Raxter.
22 CHALDEAN NEWS OCTOBER 2022