LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS ALGERIA PART 2: DUST STORMS

1. LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERSALGERIAPART 2: DUST STORMS Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA 

2. ALGERIA

3. ALGERIA

4. NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN ALGERIA FLOODS GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES WINDSTORMS/DUSTSTORMS EARTHQUAKES HIGH BENEFIT/COST FROM BECOMING DISASTER RESILIENT LANDSLIDES ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

5. DUST STORMS • A dust storm (or sand storm) is a common meteorological phenomenon that is common in. arid and semi-arid regions

6. The Sahara Desert is a key source of dust storms, particularly the Bodele Depression and an area covering the confluence of Muritania, Mali, and Algeria]

7. Saharan dust storms have increased approximately 10-fold since the 1950s.

8. DUST STORM OFF ALGERIA:DECEMBER 6, 2003

9. ALGERIAN DUST STORM • This dust storm, like others, carried Saharan dust across the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Southeast United States.

10. PAST NOTABLE REGIONAL DUST STORMSUnited Arab Emirates--Feb., 2009Al-Asada, Iraq; April 2005Egypt, May 13, 2005

11. DUST STORM: AL-ASAD, IRAQ; APRIL 27, 2005

12. DUST STORM LEAVING EGYPT: MAY 13, 2005

13. IMPACTS OF DUST • Dust injects nutrients, such as iron, into marine ecosystems. • Dust also carries bacteria and spores from fungi, which can cause diseases long distances away.

14. IMPACTS OF DUST • Dust storms can cause or worsen breathing problems. • Finally, dust in the atmosphere can also influence weather and global climate change.

15. ECONOMIC IMPACTS • Reduced visibility caused by dust can affect aircraft transportation.

16. ECONOMIC IMPACTS • Dust storms cause soil loss from the dry lands, and the abrasive effect of the storm damages young crop plants. • They preferentially remove organic matter, thereby reducing agricultural productivity.