Sand, Dust Storms Impact 330 Million People in Over 150 Countries, Says UN
United Nations: The UN World Meteorological Organization says that sand and dust storms affect approximately 330 million people in more than 150 countries and increase the health, economies and the environment.
Laura Paterson, the UN representative of the organization, said in Egypt in Egypt, “about 2 billion tons of dust is spread every year,” he said.
More than 80% of the world dust comes from the deserts in North Africa and the Middle East, but he said it has a global effect because the particles can travel on the continents and the oceans hundreds and even thousands of kilometers (miles).
The General Assembly pointed out on Saturday to be appointed as ten years in the fight against the fight against international sand and dust storms and the UN of 2025-2034 in the fight against sand and dust storms.
Parliament Speaker Philemon Yang said that the storms have become one of the rapidly overlooked but more comprehensive global challenges of our time ”.
“They are caused by climate change, land degradation and unsustainable practices,” he said.
Yang said in a speech read by a Assembly Vice President on Thursday, that the particles in the air from the sand and dust storms contribute to 7 million early deaths each year. He said that they triggered respiratory and cardiovascular disease and reduced their crop yield up to 25%and caused hunger and migration.
Rola Dashti, the General Assembly of the UN Economic and Social Commission of West Asia, said that the economic costs of the storms to the Assembly were “amazing ..
In the Middle East and North Africa, the annual cost of dealing with dust and sand storms is $ 150 billion, which is about 2.5% of GDP.
In Iraq, Kuwait and Iran in Iran, schools and offices forced to close respiratory cases and storms, referring to violent storms, “This spring alone experienced acute deterioration,” he said.
He said that dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa reached the Caribbean and Florida.
Dashti, which also matched the UN Sand and Dust Storms Coalition, said that more than 20 UN and the international agency is trying to unite efforts on early warning systems for storms and to deal with other problems, including health and financing.
He called on all countries to put sand and dust storms on global and national agendas.
“We have vehicles to take action from land restoration and sustainable agriculture to early warning systems,” Dashti said. “What we need right now is collective stability and financing to scares these solutions.”
