Intense sand, dust storms struck China, US in 2025: UN

China and the southern United States were hit last year by some of the worst sand and dust storms in decades, the United Nations yesterday.

The UN’s weather and climate agency said these episodes affected public health and the environment, and disrupted transport and economic activity.

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In its 10th annual Airborne Dust Bulletin, the World Meteorological Organisation said that globally, overall average dust concentrations last year were similar to 2024 -- though with big regional variations.

“Every year, around 2,000 million tonnes of dust enters the atmosphere, and can be transported for hundreds of kilometres and even thousands of kilometres, across continents and oceans,” the WMO said.

The main dust sources are major deserts such as the Sahara in Africa, the Gobi in Asia, and the Arabian Desert in the Middle East.

Though a natural process, poor water and land management, drought and environmental degradation “are increasingly to blame” for a hazard which affects more than 150 countries, the WMO said.

The highest annual mean dust concentrations worldwide again were in the Bodele Depression in Chad, one of the world’s most active dust source regions.

“Sand and dust storms affect air quality and human health,” said WMO chief Celeste Saulo.

“They reduce agricultural productivity, disrupt transport and aviation, strain water and energy systems, and damage ecosystems. No country is immune to their impacts.”

The desert border region of Mexico and the United States saw exceptionally frequent, intense and prolonged dust storms in 2025.

El Paso in Texas experienced 50 days with dust weather -- more than double the annual average.

The number of dust storms was the greatest since 1935, the WMO said. The problem peaked on March 18, with a daily average concentrations of inhalable particles (PM10) at 2,064 microgrammes per cubic metre of air.