Sand and dust storms are transboundary meteorological hazards in arid and semi-arid regions. It was seen in 2017 that dust storms originating as far away as Iran adversely impacted Delhi’s air quality. The storms have a huge impact on health, clean energy, transport, glaciers, agriculture, etc.
According to the Asian and Pacific Center for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) report, more than 500 million people in India are exposed to medium and high levels of poor air quality due to sand and dust storms. Further, nearly 60 million people in cities such as Delhi, Lahore, etc. experienced more than 170 dusty days a year in 2019.
The major environmental and economic impacts of sand and dust storms include:

• Energy loss: In the energy sector, sand and dust storms have a considerable impact on the generation of electricity by solar power plants which, measured in economic terms, is greater than USD 107 million a year in India. The risk to electricity generation is likely to become greater as the government strives to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (SDG 7).
• Loss in farm productivity: Much of the dust is characterised by high salt content, making it toxic for plants. It reduces yield, posing a significant threat to the production of irrigated cotton and other crops.
• Degradation of freshwater resources: Very high dust deposition also occurs in the Himalaya- Hindu Kush mountain range and the Tibetan Plateau, the so-called ‘third pole’ that is a source for freshwater for more than 1.3 billion people in Asia. Indirect dust deposits also fill irrigation canals, cover transportation routes and affect river and stream water quality.
• Global warming: The deposition of dust on glaciers induces a warming effect, which increases the melting of ice, with direct and indirect impacts on society through numerous issues, including food security, energy production, agriculture, water stress and flood regimes.

However, the impacts of dust storms are not all negative. They can increase the nutrient content in the areas of deposition and benefit vegetation. Dust particles that carry iron can enrich parts of oceans, improving the phytoplankton balance and impacting marine food webs. Large-scale sand and dust storms are generally natural phenomena and it may not always be practicable to prevent them from occurring. However, effects of sand and dust storms can be reduced by using a number of health and safety measures and environmental control strategies such as using native plants and trees as buffers to reduce wind velocity and stabilise soil, designing buildings appropriately to withstand the storms, conducting air infiltration extensively, taking precautionary measures for vulnerable population groups, etc.