Sand and Dust Storms in the Middle East and North Africa Region : Sources, Costs, and Solutions

World Bank

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: DUST STORM;    WIND EROSION;    NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT;    SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT;    CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION;   

RP-ID  :  144390

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Dust storms are capable of transportingsediment over thousands of kilometers, but due to the MiddleEast and North Africa (MENA) region’s proximity to theSahara Desert, the region is one of the dustiest in theworld. While natural sources such as the Sahara are the maincontributors to dust storms in MENA, land-use changes andhuman-induced climate change has added anthropogenic sourcesas well. Like sources, drivers of sand and dust storms arealso natural and anthropogenic, as both wind speed and landmanagement can cause them. Dust deposition has wide-ranginghealth impacts, such as causing and aggravating asthma,bronchitis, respiratory diseases, and infections and lungcancer. Apart from devastating health impacts, dust alsoimpacts the environment, agriculture, transport, andinfrastructure. Globally, welfare losses from dust areapproximately 3.6 trillion USD, where costs are about 150billion USD and over 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) on average in MENA. Besides investing in early warningsystems, governments all over the world are designingpolicies to mitigate the impact of sand and dust storms,both at national and regional levels. The WorldMeteorological Organization (WMO) launched a sand and duststorm warning system that aims to deliver reliable duststorm forecasts through a network of research organizationsall over the world. It aims to improve the ability ofcountries to deliver quick and high-quality sand and duststorm forecasts and knowledge to users through aninternational partnership of research and operational organizations.