Heavy dust hangs over many Iraqi governorates with the last days of March

Weather of Arabia - Western Iraq and the capital, Baghdad, are witnessing a dust storm on Friday, the first this year, in the semi-desert country, in which this climatic phenomenon has become frequent, especially during the spring season.

Dense orange masses of dust and sand covered the airspace of some Iraqi regions, and the level of visibility decreased dramatically, while layers of dirt covered cars and houses.

Today's temperatures in the cities of Iraq
Sulaymaniyah 10° with snow (north)
Basra 21° with fog (south)
Erbil 13° with light rain (north)

Baghdad now 17 ° with dust. (center)
Iraq is going through this month with rain, snow, cold and heat, but in different regions at the same time. pic.twitter.com/FjRqWfLyLq

- Iraq (@Gelnar_b) April 1, 2023

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Health announced in a statement, "All health institutions are on alert to receive cases of suffocation that may occur due to the dust wave." The local authorities have not yet counted the number of people admitted to hospitals due to breathing disorders caused by dust, according to Agence France-Presse.

Arab weather explains the scientific reasons behind the formation of sand storms in Iraq, Friday

The weather forecast staff at the Arab Regional Weather Center indicated that the dust waves and sandstorms that struck Iraq today were the nucleus of their formation in the northeastern regions of Syria and the northwestern regions of Iraq, and the scientific reasons behind the formation of sandstorms in Iraq are due to the rush of a very cold air mass accompanying a depression Atmospheric conditions in all layers of the atmosphere, and this weather situation caused brisk northwesterly winds, accompanied by strong gusts.

As a result of the cold winds and their heavy weight, dense dust waves were formed, which developed into sand storms that hit many Iraqi cities, accompanied by a remarkable rise in the amounts of dust with a noticeable decrease in the extent of horizontal visibility. The sand storms covered about 9 Iraqi governorates, including the capital, Baghdad, and all the northern governorates.

The reason for the recurrence of dust waves and dust storms in Iraq

During the spring of 2022, frequent dust storms paralyzed air traffic, disrupted schools and institutions, and exposed thousands to cases of suffocation, as a result of which they were admitted to hospitals.

This climatic phenomenon may worsen in Iraq. With less rain, higher temperatures and increasing desertification, Iraq is one of the five countries most vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change in the world, according to the United Nations.

According to experts, the cause of the escalation of the phenomenon of dust storms in Iraq is due to drought, the lack of rain, the drying up of rivers, the fragility of the soil and its lack of cohesion, and what contributes to the deterioration of the situation is the lack of vegetation cover and the sweeping of agricultural lands.

Among the measures taken to reduce this phenomenon, the authorities talk about the establishment of green belts around cities, as a deterrent to dust storms.

And in mid-March, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani, announced the launch of an afforestation initiative to combat desertification and dust storms, which includes "planting five million trees and palm trees throughout the provinces of Iraq."