Hundreds of Iraqis have been taken to hospitals with respiratory problems, and Baghdad airport has suspended flights for several hours as a thick sandstorm covered the country, the fifth to engulf Iraq in a month.
Iraqi state media reported that most of the patients had respiratory problems as clinics in the north and west of the country struggled to cope with the influx. Authorities urged citizens to remain indoors.
The Iraqis woke up in ocher-colored skies, and a thick blanket of dust covered the roads and buildings with orange film. Visibility was poor and drivers held car headlights to see the road.
Flights scheduled to take off at night and on Thursday morning were postponed. They resumed until the afternoon, when the dust began to dissipate.
Iraq is prone to seasonal sandstorms, a type of dust storm in desert areas, but experts and officials have raised concerns about their frequency in recent years, which they say has been exacerbated by record low rainfall, desertification and climate change.
Citizens affected by the sandstorm are being treated at Sheikh Zayed Hospital. Photo: Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
However, Azam Aluash, head of the non-profit organization Nature Iraq, warned that “climate change alone does not give the whole picture” and that inadequate farming practices and poor water management have contributed to the problems.
“Climate change has become a very convenient excuse for officials to avoid responsibility for not taking action in the last 20 to 40 years,” he said.
Desertification stemming from old irrigation practices dating back to the Sumerian era and rising water salinity are also factors, he said. “These are political issues.”
The World Bank has warned that Iraq could experience a 20% drop in water resources by 2050.
Isa al-Fayyad, an environment ministry official, said Iraq could face 272 days of sandstorms a year for decades to come.
At least 700 people have sought medical help in the western Iraqi province of Anbar and dozens more in the provinces of Kirkuk, Salahaddin and Najaf, state television reported.
At Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Baghdad, people lined up in front of the emergency department, and staff stocked up on more drugs as weather forecasts predicted storms to continue throughout May.
Ayat Haytham, a nurse, was busy treating patients, but also tried to reassure them that all the drugs used to treat shortness of breath, as well as oxygen, were “available in large quantities.”
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