May 6, 2022 - Massive Dust Cloud over Iraq and Saudi Arabia

Massive Dust Cloud over Iraq and Saudi Arabia
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High winds have been sweeping spectacular clouds of dust across parts
of the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East since late April 2022. On May
5, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer captured an
astonishingly large and thick cloud of camel-colored dust blanketing
southeastern Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia—a cloud so thick that it
completely obscured the land beneath it from view. Although dust covers
most of the landscape captured in this image, including parts of Iran
and Kuwait, the extremely dense cloud spans an area measuring more than
130,000 square kilometers (50,200 square miles), an area larger than
the U.S. state of North Carolina.

According to media reports, the ochre-colored dust dropped visibility,
triggered health warnings urging people to stay indoors, and closed
airports in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The fine dust and sand suspended so
thickly in the air also sent many people to the hospital in Iraq and
was responsible for one death in Baghdad. Reports of the number who
sought assistance at hospitals vary, but it is likely more than 1,000
people were hospitalized. Most of those hospitalized had pre-existing
respiratory illnesses that were worsened by the suspended particulates.

Weather forecasts for Saudi Arabia warn of continued high winds,
rainstorms, and sandstorms through at least May 8. Surface winds on the
Red Sea are expected to be northerly to northwesterly with speeds
between 25 – 50 km/h (18-30 mph), which is plenty strong enough to
create widespread dust storms.

A report by the United Nation’s Joint Analysis and Policy Unit (JAPU)
states that Iraq is considered one of the region’s most vulnerable
countries to climate change and it faces a unique set of environmental
challenges. Rising environmental degradation and increasing frequency
and intensity of extreme weather events, especially Sand and Dust
Storms (SDS), take an enormous toll on socio-economic life and human
development across the entire region. The report states that it has
been recognized that climate change and environmental degradation
transcend boundaries and that they can’t be addressed effectively
through national level interventions alone, and regional governments
have acknowledged that addressing environmental issues, such as SDS, is
an opportunity for enhanced cooperation and for making a tangible
difference. In Iraq, the Ministry of Environment recorded 122 dust
storms and 283 dusty days and sources suggest that within the next ten
years, Iraq could witness 300 dust storms per year.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 5/5/2022
Resolutions: 1km (3 MB), 500m (3 MB), 250m (1.8 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-05-06

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