Arabian Peninsula – June 17th, 2013
Dust continues to blow about the Arabian Peninsula. Here, it is most concentrated over the southern part of the Red Sea (lower left), Yemen, Oman and the Gulf of Aden (lower right). Some plumes can also been seen blowing southward over the Persian Gulf (upper right).
Namibia – June 17th, 2013
Plumes of dust blow southwestwardward off the coast of Namibia, by both the rocky, tan northern portion and the sandy, orange southern portion of the Namib Desert. In the full image, similar wispy plumes of dust can be seen much further southward along the coast, for much of the length of the sandy desert.
Uzbekistan – June 16th, 2013
Significant desertification, characterized by degradation of the land and natural resources to the point that they can no longer be used, has been occurring in the region around the Aral Sea. A decline in the groundwater level in the deltas of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers has contributed to the piling up of salt at the surface, resulting in the death of plants. The death of vegetation, in turn, has resulted in intensified winds, causing more dust storms in the area. Here, dust can be seen blowing across Sarygamysh Lake, in Uzbekistan, southwest of the Aral Sea.
Iraq – June 16th, 2013
A plume of dust blows southeastward across Iraq, by the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley, across the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab and over the northern end of the Persian Gulf. 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, take an enormous toll on socio-economic life and human development across the region.
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. These projections underscore the urgent need for a concerted regional effort to address the phenomenon today (click here for more information).
Arabian Peninsula – June 12th, 2013
Dust blows in the air over and around the Arabian Peninsula, covering the southern half of the Red Sea (left) and part of the Persian Gulf, near Qatar (upper right), where a thicker dust plume blows northwest-souteast. The veil of dust also extends southward over the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea (lower right).
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