Officials urge caution as extreme sandstorm sends over 3,500 to hospitals: '[Turned] the sky a strange orange'

We've witnessed decaying air quality under drought conditions, but a recent devastating sandstorm across central and southern Iraq took things to another level. 

The episode is only the latest in a series of similar extreme weather events. Before this, a storm just as severe overtook Baghdad in December.

What's happening?

The sandstorm grounded flights and sent over 3,500 people to hospitals in mid-April due to respiratory damage from dust particles. The extreme conditions have "[forced] almost all but emergency workers to stay indoors," noted The New York Times.

Following a week of abnormally high temperatures and years of frequent drought, weather stations captured strong gusts from the west and northwest that culminated in a powerful dust storm that "[turned] the sky a strange orange."

According to NASA's Earth Observatory, Iraqi sandstorms tend to take place during the late spring and summer, although in recent years, offseason storms have become more common.

The United Nations attributes the increase in Iraq's sandstorms to water shortages and overpopulation compounded by an overheating planet, labeling Iraq "the fifth-most vulnerable country to climate breakdown."

Why are dust storms important?

Iraq isn't the only country where worldwide climate change manifests in weather patterns. Parts of Africa, China, and even the U.S. have experienced similar dust storms. Japan and California recently suffered wildfires. 

In addition to hospitalizing thousands and interfering with regular work-life cycles, the Iraqi sandstorm gestures toward a greater trend of land and air degradation as a result of climate change. As rising temperatures deplete the Earth's water sources and make agricultural land more arid, our global food supply falls under threat. 

"Three-quarters of Earth's land became permanently drier in the last three decades," the United Nations reported in 2024. The article established a link between rising greenhouse gas emissions and expanding "drylands" around the world. 

Our growing human population may soon struggle to sustain itself upon crop land that's increasingly desertified.

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What's being done about dust storms?

In Iraq, per The New York Times, most of the hospitalized have been treated and released, and face masks and stay-at-home recommendations have done wonders to protect the remaining population from the brunt of the sandstorm.

More generally, the U.N. recommends investing in water security and developing responsible land use techniques to mitigate desertification. First and foremost, however, reducing our global planet-warming pollution is key to holistically combating increasing global temperatures in the coming years. Conserving water, cutting down on household waste, and opting for clean-energy appliances can all be good places to start.

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