Overview

• The World Meteorological Organization estimates that 330 million people in 150 countries are exposed to sand and dust storms each year.
• About two billion tonnes of desert dust, 80% from North African and Middle Eastern deserts, enter the atmosphere annually under intensified climatic conditions.
• Regions from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Bengal and central and east China saw ground‐level dust concentrations exceed 1981–2010 averages last year.
• Altered weather patterns and vegetation loss tied to climate change have increased the frequency and severity of dust storm events.
• Airborne and deposited particulates are driving glacier melt, impairing air quality, disrupting transport and solar power, and inflicting millions in health and economic costs.