Dust In The Air Higher In 2022 Due To Increased Emission Of Some Countries, UN Says

The amount of dust in the world's air worsened in 2022, according to the United Nations.

A report released by the UN Meteorological Organization (WMO) said some 2,000 million tons of dust enter the sky each year, "darkening skies and harming air quality in regions that can be thousands of kilometers away."

(Photo : Getty Images/Anthony Wallace)

Increased Emission

Due to increased emissions from west-central Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Iranian Plateau, and north-western China, the global average of annual mean dust surface concentrations in 2022 was somewhat higher than in 2021.

According to the Airborne Dust Bulletin 2022, the Bodele region of Chad had the highest estimated annual mean dust surface concentration, ranging between 900 and 1,200 micrograms per cubic meter.

"Human activities are having an impact on sand and dust storms," WMO chief Petteri Taalas said.

He explained that higher temperatures, drought, and higher evaporation can lead to lower soil moisture combined with poor land management. This could be conducive to more sand and dust storms.

The advisory detailed three big episodes in 2022, including the March "exceptional dust outbreak" across Spain and Portugal from northern Africa.

The European Union's air quality laws established a mean daily limit of 50 micrograms, but peak hourly rates in southeastern Spain exceeded 3,500.

The severe dust storm over the Middle East in May that "dramatically reduced visibility all over the region" and the agricultural dust storm in the eastern United States that month were both described.

Last year, the value was 13.8 micrograms (one millionth of a gram) per cubic meter; by 2021, it had dropped to 13.5.

The report advocated for more research into dust storms and climate change, both of which are mainly "unexplored."

To safeguard people from the worsening effects of climate change, the WMO wants the entire world covered by weather disaster early warning systems within four years.

'A Matter Of Life And Death' For People With Albinism

Taalas stressed that sand and dust storms have an impact on transportation, especially aviation, ground transportation, road and train traffic, and agriculture.

This also includes public health and safety, as well as economics.

According to an UN-appointed independent rights expert, climate change has an effect on skin cancer in people with albinism that can be both fatal and widely ignored.

As per Muluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, the Special Rapporteur on albinism concerns, people with albinism are up to 1,000 times more likely to acquire skin cancer, with many dying before the age of 40.

She emphasized that she has relentlessly advocated for sunscreen to be made freely available to those with albinism as a "life-saving medical product that can prolong and improve the quality of life for many who cannot afford it."

People with albinism also have visual impairments and are thus disproportionately affected by climate-related disasters.

Miti-Drummond advocated for the inclusion of people with albinism in all climate change and crisis management forums, stating that climate change is "a matter of life and death" for many of them.

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