A new dust storm hits Iraq

Baghdad International Airport suspended its flights for several hours on Monday due to a new dust storm that hit the Iraqi capital, in a phenomenon that has been recurring significantly in recent months in Iraq, which is among the countries most affected by climate change in the world.

Dust storms have become a frequent phenomenon with an increasing frequency in Iraq during the last two months, with their occurrence almost on a weekly basis.

Since mid-April, Iraq has witnessed at least ten dust storms.

Experts attribute the phenomenon to climate change, lack of rain and desertification. Iraq is one of the five countries most vulnerable to climate change and desertification in the world, especially due to the increasing drought with high temperatures that exceed fifty degrees Celsius for days in the summer.

In the early hours of the morning, the sky of Baghdad was covered with a layer of dust, which reduced the visibility of a few hundred meters.

Therefore, the Baghdad International Airport administration decided to suspend flights in the morning before they could resume at 10:30 Baghdad time, according to a source at the airport.

The dust storm forced the authorities in Najaf Governorate, south of Baghdad, to close the city's airport for a few hours before returning to work again.

In May, dust storms caused one death and thousands of suffocation cases in Iraq.

In an interview with the Iraqi News Agency, the Director General of the Technical Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Environment warned of the increase in sandstorms, especially after the number of dusty days increased to 272 days per year for a period of two decades.

It is expected that it will reach 300 dusty days per year in 2050.

Increasing vegetation cover and planting dense trees that act as windbreaks are the most important solutions needed to reduce the rate of sandstorms, according to the ministry.

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