BAGHDAD (REUTERS, AFP) – A series of dust storms across central and southern Iraq have led to thousands of Iraqis attending hospitals and clinics to seek treatment for breathing problems, medical officials said on Thursday (May 5).

During the latest storm, which began overnight on Thursday and covered the capital Baghdad and many other areas in a thick haze, at least 3,000 people sought medical help, hospital workers in several governorates said.

Iraq has seen an increasing number of dust, sand and windstorms in recent years, including several in recent weeks.

Most Iraqis say that cannot remember experiencing so many storms in such a short space of time.

Iraq’s summers are getting hotter, hitting record temperatures of at least 52 degrees Celsius in the past two years.

The country’s agriculture sector, dependent largely on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, has also suffered from drought and rising heat. Iraq’s 2020-2021 rainfall season was the second driest in 40 years, according to the United Nations.

raq is particularly vulnerable to climate change, having already witnessed record low rainfall and high temperatures in the past few years.

Experts have said these factors threaten to bring social and economic disaster in the war-scarred country.

In November, the World Bank warned Iraq could suffer a 20-per cent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change. In early April, a government official warned Iraq could face “272 days of dust” a year in coming decades.

The environment ministry said the weather phenomenon could be addressed by “increasing vegetation cover and creating forests that act as windbreaks”.