Iraq’s international airports canceled flights yesterday and Tuesday, due to cloudy weather. Sandstorms are a common occurrence in Iraq, a semi-desert country, especially in the spring. The sandstorm severely damaged visibility The storm made it difficult to see for a distance of 500 meters
The Iraqi news agency reports that international airports in the capital, Baghdad and Najaf, have suspended flights, on Sunday and Monday, due to bad weather.
The agency added in a report that “aircraft traffic will return to normal if weather conditions improve.” The sandstorm severely damaged the visibility of up to 500 meters, the improvement started yesterday (Monday) in the morning, but was still dangerous for planes to take off.
Iraq is exposed to a deep depression accompanied by strong winds, which led to the formation of sandstorms in large areas of the country, including the capital Baghdad. Sandstorms are a common occurrence in Iraq, a semi-desert country, especially in the spring. Iraq is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and drought more and more frequently, with temperatures that can reach more than fifty degrees in the summer.
Last November, the World Bank warned of a 20% drop in Iraq’s water resources by 2050 due to climate change. In an interview with the Iraqi News Agency, the director general of the technical department at the Iraqi Ministry of the Environment warned against increasing sandstorms, especially after the number of dusty days increased to “272 days a year for two decades, and it is likely to reach 300 dusty days a year in 2050. Increasing vegetation cover and planting forests with dense trees that serve as windbreaks are the most important solutions needed to reduce the rate of sandstorms, according to the ministry.