The Middle East is no stranger to sand and dust storms.
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia are among the countries hit hardest by this transboundary problem, which costs billions of dollars each year in damages to infrastructure and health systems.
In May, Iran’s local media reported severe sand and dust storms in the southeast near the border with Afghanistan, which swept through the area, sent hundreds to the hospital with respiratory illnesses, and disrupted local livelihoods.
“Dust storms happen when strong winds lift loose, dry, and fine soil particles from barren or degraded land surfaces into the atmosphere,” says Nima Shokri, a professor of geo-hydroinformatics at the Hamburg University of Technology in Germany.
“Unlike people, dust particles don’t require visas to cross international borders- they can travel effortlessly thousands of kilometers from one country to another,” adds Shokri.
The Middle East is naturally prone to strong winds, extreme heat, and arid landscapes—factors that create an ideal environment for sand and dust storms when coupled with climate change.
But decades of poor water management, which have dried up lakes, rivers, and wetlands that once helped contain these storms, have turned sand and dust storms into a pressing challenge for the region, with many consequences.
Food and water insecurity, air pollution, conflict, and forced migration are just a few examples.
Meanwhile, as governments across the Middle East struggle to combat the growing problem of SDS, experts highlight soil degradation as a significant contributing element that demands urgent global attention.
Soil Health Matters
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, healthy soil is defined as having the ability to perform functions such as retaining water or sustaining plant and animal life. Soil then becomes degraded when it loses vegetation and organic matter, like manure, and is exposed to long periods of drought.
Research indicates that in the Middle East, soil in many parts of the region has been harmed because of poor land management practices and farming, as well as climate change.
This mix of problems could cause significant issues for many countries, including soil salinisation, where water dries up and leaves salt behind, negatively influencing crop production. By the way, soil salinity is one of the key drivers of soil degradation.
Scientists say Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan are among the nations in the region experiencing the highest salt increases in their soil.
In a part of the world with no shortage of environmental problems, soil degradation poses an added threat to food, water, and the resilience to cope with disasters such as floods and wildfires.
But that’s not all that it does.
Pete Smith, a professor of plant and soil science at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, told me in an interview that poor soil management can also increase the severity of sand and dust storms.
“Failing to retain plant cover on the soil and practices like overgrazing lead to the destabilization of soil, making it easier for particles to be picked up and carried by the wind,” adds Smith.
On the other hand, scientists have discovered that wet and heavy soil is less likely to release dust into the air quickly or in large quantities. This means the drier the land, the worse the dust storms, experts say.
“Dust emissions greatly depend on soil moisture,” says Paolo D’Odorico, a professor of environmental science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Particularly in the Middle East, “there are a few basins of internal drainage that are drying out and exposing the sediment to the action of wind and consequent dust storms,” D’Odorico adds.
Missing In Action
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) plan to help nations achieve peace and prosperity by 2030. They include objectives like fighting climate change and making sure everyone has access to clean and safe water.
However, the list does not include the need for well-functioning soil, an essential component of the SDGs that experts say the international community is overlooking.
“It would be naive to think we can achieve any of these goals without giving soil the proper attention it deserves,” says Shokri.
“In the absence of that, the whole foundation of sustainable development will begin to crumble,” he adds.
The World Bank reckons that over 40% of the land in the Middle East has already lost its productivity. As droughts become increasingly severe and temperatures rise, scientists believe that healthier soil can be a key solution for mitigating these problems.
When it comes to sand and dust storms, “it can certainly reduce the impact and severity for communities,” says Smith.
Decision makers “should definitely discuss it as a tool for tackling climate change, food security, and combating land degradation and desertification,” he adds.
“This is truly the definition of a transboundary issue in need of serious global cooperation,” Shokri adds.
