Sandstorm that turns the skies orange

Iraq 's Central and Southern regions have had a

severe sandstorm turn the sky a strange orange,

reducing visibility in some places to half a mile

and sending several hundred people to emergency

rooms with severe respiratory problems.  Two airports

suspended flights and usually crowded highways of

Basra were nearly empty as high winds whipped through

palm trees and aboveground power lines.  This climatic

change with frequent storms and extended droughts

engulfs larger and larger areas of once-fertile land.

The United Nations counts Iraq as the fifth-most

vulnerable nation to some aspects of climate change. . .

nytimes.com/2025/04/15/world/middleeast/iraq-sandstorm.html