July 12th every year will see the commemoration of International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms.

This UN designated day comes as the global organization proclaimed 2025-2034 as the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms.

According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, an estimated 2 billion tonnes of sand and dust enter the atmosphere every year.

In its recently published Airborne Dust Bulletin, the World Met Organization says the global average of annual mean surface dust concentrations in 2023 was slightly lower than that in 2022.

It adds that regions most vulnerable to the long-range transport of dust are the northern tropical Atlantic Ocean between West Africa and the Caribbean, among others.