In the streets of Baghdad, Iraqmore and more masks are seen, but this trend has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic —not even in the most acute part of the crisis was its use generalized— but with another enemy: the dust that is in suspension and that does not let breathe. Although sandstorms have always existed here, they are becoming more frequent and unbearable.
This is well known to Milad Mitti, a food delivery person from the capital of the Arab country who is well equipped to deal with the phenomenon. Wearing goggles “for dust” and a scarf that also covers his mouth so he can breathe, he goes out into the street so as not to lose another day of work due to the sandstorms in Iraq.
It is probably the first year that Iraq has suffered from so many sandstorms.
Terrible conditions, today and tomorrow
Mitti is not wrong. Iraq suffered a dozen sandstorms from April to now, a problem that not only complicates the lives of Iraqis by itself and sends many with respiratory problems to hospital, but also Now the summer factor is added. On Sunday, without going any further, the thermometer marked 40 ° in Baghdad. “It looks very bad. One drowns. You have to drink liquids to survive,” Mitti illustrated, in dialogue with AFP.
The citizens of asian country They do not hide their boredom with the situation that is repeated more and more. What happens is that Iraq it is one of the five countries in the world most vulnerable to desertification, something that increases the chances of sandstorms forming.
So much so that the Ministry of the Environment estimates that, in the next 20 years, Iraq it could have “272 days of dust” a year, while by 2050 it would reach 300 days. One of the solutions would be to restore the green belt around the cities so that the trees hold back the dust and sand, but this country is already suffering from a lack of water and the rains are increasingly scarce. Therefore, there is no better outlook for the future for the long-suffering Iraqis.