CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER MISMANAGEMENT BLAMED FOR WHIPPING UP GULF SANDSTORMS
▶ Ismaeel Naar examines how rising temperatures and building dams are making seasonal storms even worse
From Iraq to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to Iran, sandstorms have been blanketing the Middle East, closing schools, delaying flights and forcing thousands to seek hospital treatment.
The storms, caused by north-westerly “shamal” winds have led many governments to take action. This follows warnings from experts that climate change could worsen the weather pattern in the years ahead.
In the UAE, a nationwide weather alert was issued yesterday, with sandstorms and dusty, windy weather forecast. The warning came a day after a sandstorm blanketed Abu Dhabi and reduced visibility to a few metres across the city.
Q Why do Gulf Arabs call dust storms ‘shamal’ winds?
A People in the Gulf are accustomed to frequent sand and dust storms, and have attached the Arabic word “shamal” (“northern”) to the phenomenon. The term refers to the winds that blow from Iraq to the Gulf.
Are increasing temperatures causing sandstorms?
Although the exact causes of sand and dust storms are not yet fully known by scientists, many experts point to a correlation with deforestation and desertification to explain why more of these storms are becoming more frequent in recent years.
According to Banafsheh Keynoush, a non-resident scholar with the Middle East Institute’s Iran Programme, sand and dust storms often originate from countries with limited vegetation, where there are fewer barriers to strong winds.
“[Storms] hit vegetation-poor Kuwait more than three months a year. In comparison, SDSs affect Bahrain 5.6 per cent of the year, Qatar 7.1 per cent and Abu Dhabi 3.9 per cent. Winds in Kuwait carrying sand and dust can also reach 93-109 kilometres an hour, reducing visibility to almost zero,” Ms Keynoush wrote.
Is water mismanagement in Iran and Iraq to blame?
Experts in the region who have followed sand and dust storms over the years have noted that mismanagement of water resources in countries such as Iran and Iraq, where rivers have dried up, has caused an increase in the frequency of such storms hitting the region.
Enric Terradellas, a meteorologist with the World Meteorology Organisation’s sand and dust storm prediction centre, told the BBC that the increase in the frequency of sand storms is directly related to a decrease in the flow of rivers in Iraq and Iran caused by dam construction.
“One of the main sources of sand and dust storms is Iraq, where the flow of rivers has decreased because of a race in dam constructions in upstream countries,” Mr Terradellas said.
“That has led to the disappearance of marshes and drying up of lakes both in Iraq and Iran, and the sediments left behind are very important sources of dust in the region.”
What are the effects of dust storms and are there benefits?
Although dust storms have had negative effects on the health and economy of people in the Gulf, some experts have pointed out the benefits sand and dust storms bring, such as carrying nutrients from the Sahara. “In this region, we encounter dust storms frequently and people usually associate dust with cars covered with dirt or reduced visibility,” said Cecile Guieu, a visiting scientist at New York University Abu Dhabi’s Centre for Prototype Climate Modelling.
“Dust contains nutrients and these small particles have a very positive impact for microscopic plant-like organisms called phytoplankton that live in the ocean.”
What are governments doing to change it?
According to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, $13 billion is lost annually in the country and across the region to dust storms. To counter that, he announced the Green Saudi Initiative and Green Middle East Initiative last March to cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent and plant 50 billion trees.
In the UAE, investments in new technologies have been put into place to help the country better equip itself for potential dust storms after the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology announced its real-time dust storm forecasting system in 2016.
“This is a turning point in the region’s ability to properly manage the impacts of dust storms. With access to an accurate forecast of dust events and sandstorms, people can better prepare for them,” said the institute’s Dr Hosni Ghedira at the time.