According to a recent international study, in which scientists from the Cyprus Institute played a key role, the dust clouds covering Europe are becoming more intense, creating serious challenges for the environment and public health.
The results of this work, published on the pages of the prestigious scientific journal Nature, indicate a direct link between the increase in powerful emissions of Saharan dust and global climate shifts. Scientists attribute this phenomenon to increased droughts and soil degradation in North Africa, as well as changes in the circulation of air masses, which are now much more actively transporting sand masses towards the European continent. The researchers emphasize that the effects of global warming go far beyond heat waves or extreme weather events — they directly affect what every European inhabitant breathes.
This problem is especially acute in the southern countries, where about forty-six dust episodes are recorded annually. Such events lead to a sharp jump in the concentration of fine particles in the atmosphere, which naturally worsens the sanitary situation. Shocking data shows that the introduced desert dust alone generates about a third of the annual average value of particulate matter pollution (PM10) recommended by the World Health Organization. But the most alarming thing is the consequences for the human body. The high content of sand in the air provokes an exacerbation of bronchial asthma and leads to an increase in mortality. For example, in recent years, in Southern Europe, each powerful dust release has been accompanied by an increase in daily mortality of almost 0.67 percent, and the number of hospitalizations among children with respiratory symptoms has increased by 2.5 percent.
The significance of these findings for Cyprus and the entire eastern Mediterranean deserves special attention.
This territory is among the European regions most susceptible to the harmful effects of transcontinental sand transport. Moreover, it is here that the sharpest spike in the intensity of such phenomena has been recorded over the past decade. The study also showed that the average concentrations of desert aerosol in the southern latitudes of Europe are more than twice as high as those typical for the central and northern parts of the continent. As a clear historical proof of this trend, scientists cite data from the analysis of ice cores from Alpine glaciers, which recorded a gradual increase in the volume of introduced dust throughout the last century.
Representatives of the CARE-C Research Center, which is part of the Cyprus Institute and co-authored this paper, explain that although desert dust has always been a natural part of the region’s ecosystem, the current intensification of episodes occurs against the background of climate change. The conditions that contribute to the formation of particularly powerful storms evolve precisely under the influence of anthropogenic factors. In this regard, experts make a disappointing forecast: in the coming years, the problem of air pollution from desert emissions will only worsen. In this regard, they call on the authorities and the international community to take two key actions: first, to increase the preparedness of health systems for more frequent and intense episodes, and secondly, to continue taking decisive steps to curb climate change. Only such an integrated approach, according to the authors of the report, will protect the population and maintain acceptable air quality in the future.
Source: en.philenews.com
https://cyprusbutterfly.com.cy/news/kipr-nazvali-liderom-rostu-pyilevyix
