In a commentary article published by Forbes, UNU-INWEH Director Kaveh Madani urges action to address the climate-driven crisis of sand and dust storms and their impacts on human health, ecosystems, education and economies.
"Sand and dust storms occur when strong winds lift large amounts of sand and dust into the air, making it hard to see and breathe. September 7 is the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, a good opportunity to note the growing global threat of these storms and their severe negative effects on air quality, human health and the environment.
"Most living Americans are too young to remember the Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms in the 1930s as the result of bad farming practices and droughts that damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies. Destructive storms of similar scale have not occurred frequently, but we should be worried, as dust storms are expanding globally in terms of number, strength and geographical coverage.
"Why? Because of deforestation, water mismanagement, bad land use, unsustainable farming, desertification and climate change."
Read the full article on Forbes.com.
Suggested citation: Kaveh Madani. "The World Is Not Prepared for the Sand and Dust Storms Crisis," United Nations University, UNU-INWEH, 2024-09-09, https://unu.edu/inweh/article/world-not-prepared-sand-and-dust-storms-crisis.
