Its launch annual report on sand and dust storms the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said poor environmental management had made the situation worse.
Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO, called for greater vigilance over climate change.
“Scientific evidence shows that human activities influence sand and dust storms,” she said.
She cited higher temperatures, drought and higher evaporation levels leading to lower soil moisture – compounded when combined with poor land management.
Every year, 2 billion tons of dust are released into the air, darkening the sky and degrading air quality in areas thousands of kilometers away, affecting the economy, ecosystems, weather and climate.
Hotspots
In 2023, global dust emissions decreased slightly, but concentrations increased in Central Asia, northern and central China, and southern Mongolia.
Although dust storms are a problem on land, their transport over long distances across the ocean is a major advantage.
The WMO report shows that Saharan dust in the Atlantic Ocean has delivered essential nutrients such as iron and phosphorus. These nutrients stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, the base of the marine food web and the entire ecosystem, including economically important species such as skipjackton.
It also notes that thirteen major dust explosions occurred in East Asia from March to May 2023, with a major event in March that affected Mongolia and northern China and also reached the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
A cyclone over Mongolia and cold winds reduced visibility in parts of Beijing to less than 500 meters.
In the Sahel and Gulf of Guinea, Harmattan winds brought persistent dust from autumn 2023 into winter, affecting air quality and visibility, and in the western Maghreb, Sahel and Gulf of Guinea in December.
UN to help around 600,000 people in Mali in the first quarter of 2024
The UN and humanitarian partners continue to support the Malian government-led relief efforts, with an estimated 600,000 people receiving critical assistance in the first quarter of 2024.
“However, needs continue to rise amid an influx of refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Burkina Faso,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said at the regular afternoon briefing in New York on Friday, adding that this also marks the start of the annual so-called lean season.
More than 1.3 million people in Mali are suffering from acute famine IPC Food Classification Indexof which more than 2,500 are facing catastrophic conditions – IPC Phase 5.
Government figures show that 330,000 people were displaced in Mali at the end of May. While the total number of displaced people has decreased slightly since the beginning of the year, the number of displaced people is still increasing in some areas, Mr Dujarric said.
Uncertainty is omnipresent
This also includes areas in the north and east of Mali that are struggling with insecurity, such as Bandiagara, Gao and Menaka. More than 80 percent of the population there lives in an area with women and children.
“Our humanitarian colleagues stress that increased funding for the humanitarian response in Mali is of course crucial, as is an improvement in the security situation that will allow aid agencies to reach people in hard-to-reach areas and provide assistance,” the UN spokesman said.
Six months into the year, less than 19 percent of the $700 million humanitarian response plan for Mali has been funded.
Ambitious UN project aims to connect every school to the internet by 2030
And finally, about a third of humanity has no access to the internet. This is about to change thanks to a groundbreaking UN project to connect all schools to the internet.
The Giga Initiative aims to get every school in the world online by 2030. The partnership between the UN Agency for Digital Technologies ITUand the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is already active in 34 countries; this number will be expanded to 50.
Connectivity Forum
Speaking at the Giga Connectivity Forum in Geneva this week, ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan-Martin said the UN wants “every young person to have a voice, a choice and a chance in today’s digital revolution”.
Schools without internet access are already being identified using satellite imagery, open-source technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
The Giga Project then designs connectivity solutions for them, secures funding, and works with governments and private partners to build the infrastructure needed to get kids online.
So far, $6 billion has been raised over the past three years to fund the initiative.
To support existing and new national members, UN agencies ITU and UNICEF have set up the Geneva Global Connectivity Centre and Learning Hub. This centre is designed to share solutions and knowledge on internet connectivity to help achieve the ambitious 2030 target.