There are new warnings of the rising threat of sand and dust storms and their impact on global health.

A new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has found some parts of the world, including China and the US-Mexican border, experienced record- breaking sand and dust storms in 2025, impacting health and the environment and disrupting economic activities and transport.

The WMO Airborne Dust Bulletin has delivered scientific insights to inform policymaking and to improve public safety and well-being. It examined hotspots and reviews advances in research, forecasts and warnings. The 2026 bulletin – the tenth in the annual series – discusses the potential of Artificial Intelligence and satellite technology to improve monitoring and warnings of dust sources and storms.

It added every year, around 2,000 million tons of dust enters the atmosphere and can be transported for hundreds of kilometres and even thousands of kilometres, across continents and oceans. The most significant dust sources globally are concentrated in arid and semi-arid regions, particularly major deserts such as the Sahara in Africa, the Gobi in Asia, and the Arabian Desert in the Middle East.

Much of this is a natural process, but poor water and land management, drought and environmental degradation are increasingly to blame. It is a major hazard which affects more than 150 countries worldwide.

“Sand and dust storms affect air quality and human health. They reduce agricultural productivity, disrupt transport and aviation, strain water and energy systems, and damage ecosystems. No country is immune to their impacts,” said WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo. “Because sand and dust storms and droughts do not respect borders, international cooperation is essential. Strengthening shared observations, data exchange, and regional forecasting capacity allows all countries—especially the most vulnerable—to benefit from advances in science and early warning.”

The global average of annual mean dust surface concentrations in 2025 was similar to 2024, with big regional variations, according to the Airborne Dust Bulletin.

The highest annual mean dust concentrations worldwide remained centred in the Bodélé Depression in Chad, one of the world’s most active dust source regions.

North Africa and the Middle East were hit by a series of major dust intrusions, which harmed air quality and reduced visibility.

In April 2025, dust swept down from Mongolia into China, resulting in the worst sand and dust storm in China for the past decade – in terms of high intensity, wide influence and long duration.

Hourly concentrations of inhalable particles (PM10) exceeded 1,000 μg/m³ (micrograms or one-millionth of a gram per cubic meter air) in northern parts of China, with some areas reaching as high as 3,000 to 4,000 μg/m³ – many times above the limits recommended by the World Health Organization.

In the desert border region of Mexico and the USA, there were exceptionally frequent, intense and long dust storms. El Paso in Texas experienced 50 days with dust weather in 2025, more than double the annual average. The number of dust storms was the greatest since 1935, during the USA’s protracted “Dust Bowl” disaster.

At the peak, on 18 March, there were more than 6 hours of continuous sand and dust storm conditions, with a daily average PM10 concentration of 2,064 µg m-3, and hourly reported PM10 of 8,142 µg m-3, the highest measured in Texas since hourly PM monitoring began approximately 27 years ago. Schools, highways and airports were closed temporarily, public events were cancelled, and there were multiple fatal highway crashes.