-
Altomare hangs on to tie defending champ Korda at LPGA Match Play
-
Paraguay gold rush leaves tea producers bitter
-
Health concerns swirl as Bolivian city drowns in rubbish
-
Syria says deadly Israeli strikes a 'blatant violation'
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuits weeks after $50mn ruling
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll
-
New coal capacity hit 20-year low in 2024: report
-
Revealed: Why monkeys are better at yodelling than humans
-
Key details on Trump's market-shaking tariffs
-
'A little tough love': Top quotes from Trump tariff talk
-
US business groups voice dismay at Trump's new tariffs
-
Grealish dedicates Man City goal to late brother
-
US tariffs take aim everywhere, including uninhabited islands
-
Trump sparks trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
Israeli strikes hit Damascus, central Syria; monitor says 4 dead
-
Slot 'hates' offside rule that gave Liverpool win over Everton
-
US stocks end up, but volatility ahead after latest Trump tariffs
-
Barca oust Atletico to set up Clasico Copa del Rey final
-
Mourinho grabs Galatasaray coach's face after losing Istanbul derby
-
Grealish strikes early as Man City move up to fourth in Premier League
-
Reims edge out fourth-tier Cannes to set up PSG French Cup final
-
Liverpool beat Everton as title looms, Man City win without Haaland
-
Jota wins bad-tempered derby as Liverpool move 12 points clear
-
Inter and Milan level in derby Italian Cup semi
-
Stuttgart beat Leipzig to reach German Cup final
-
Trump unveils sweeping global tariffs
-
Italian director Nanni Moretti in hospital after heart attack: media
-
LIV Golf stars playing at Doral with Masters on their minds
-
Trump unveils sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
Most deadly 2024 hurricane names retired from use: UN agency
-
Boeing chief reports progress to Senate panel after 'serious missteps'
-
Is Musk's political career descending to Earth?
-
On Mexico-US border, Trump's 'Liberation Day' brings fears for future
-
Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuit weeks after $50mn ruling
-
Ally of Pope Francis elected France's top bishop
-
'Determined' Buttler leads Gujarat to IPL win over Bengaluru
-
US judge dismisses corruption case against New York mayor
-
Left-wing party pulls ahead in Greenland municipal elections
-
Blistering Buttler leads Gujarat to IPL win over Bengaluru
-
Tesla sales slump as pressure piles on Musk
-
Amazon makes last-minute bid for TikTok: report
-
Canada Conservative leader warns Trump could break future trade deal
-
British band Muse cancels planned Istanbul gig
-
'I'll be back' vows Haaland after injury blow
-
Trump to unveil 'Liberation Day' tariffs as world braces
-
New coach Edwards adamant England can win women's cricket World Cup
-
Military confrontation 'almost inevitable' if Iran nuclear talks fail: French FM
-
US stocks advance ahead of looming Trump tariffs
UN says dust levels in air dropped slightly in 2023
The amount of dust in the air eased slightly in 2023, the United Nations said Friday, warning that poor environmental management was fuelling sand and dust storms.
The UN's weather and climate agency called for greater vigilance in the face of climate change, as drier surface soil leads to more dust being carried in the wind.
"Every year, around 2,000 million tons of dust enters the atmosphere, darkening skies and harming air quality in regions that can be thousands of kilometres away, and affecting economies, ecosystems, weather and climate," the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a statement.
The global average surface dust concentration in 2023 was 12.7 microgrammes per cubic metre of air -- slightly lower than the 2022 figure of 13.8, but still above the long-term average.
Last year's slight dip was due to reduced dust emissions from regions including North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Iranian Plateau, northern India, central Australia and northwestern China, the WMO said.
However, average concentrations were higher in western Central Asia, northern and central China and southern Mongolia.
The most severe dust storm of the year swept across Mongolia in March 2023, affecting more than four million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles), including several provinces in China, the WMO said in its annual Airborne Dust Bulletin.
The storm posed "considerable" health challenges due to a "dramatic decline in air quality", it said.
"It reduced visibility to less than 500 metres in parts of Beijing and led to significant disruptions in transportation and daily life, highlighting the need for effective warning systems."
Across the whole year, the highest mean surface dust concentration was located in Chad, estimated at 800 to 1,100 microgrammes per cubic metre.
- Human impact -
Dust can be transported vast distances by the wind. Though mainly a natural phenomenon, human activity is also driving dust storms.
"We need to be vigilant in the face of continuing environmental degradation and current and future climate change," WMO chief Celeste Saulo warned in the statement.
"Combined with poor land management, this is conducive to more sand and dust storms."
With changed atmospheric conditions acting like a driver, "the intensity is growing, and the frequency" of storms, Sara Basart, the WMO's sand and dust scientific officer, told journalists in Geneva.
The reduction of ice cover in places like Scandinavia and Iceland was leading to newly-exposed land there becoming new sources of sand and dust storms, she said.
The WMO said there were some positives to dust being transported over the oceans.
It cited a new study which concluded that Saharan dust deposits in the Atlantic ultimately benefit skipjack tuna by providing iron and phosphorus that boost the growth of phytoplankton.
The new organic matter transfers up the food chain, from small fish to large predators, "favouring the whole marine ecosystem", the report said.
The agency also said monitoring and forecasting accuracy had improved in recent years, notably through a system first established in 2007.
July 12 marks the first International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, which aims to raise awareness of the growing health and environmental challenges they pose.
S.F.Warren--AMWN