A dust storm blew through Iraq and over the Persian Gulf on July 1, 2008. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image the same day.

In the image, the dust plumes are thick enough to almost completely hide the land and water below. The dust blows in a counter-clockwise direction, forming arcs over the Gulf and blowing over Saudi Arabia.  What causes these dust storms?  How do they affect Iran and the region?  What measures can be taken to mitigate their damage?

Here’s a link for more dust storms.

The dust storms are over.  It’s nice and clear now.  Stop worrying about it!

طوفان تمام شد.  بی‌خیال.

Well.  Spoke too soon.  Here it comes again.  September 16, Iraq dust storm.  A hazy day.  My eyes are watering.
دوباره آمد. 

I have never seen a storm from near but I Have seen it in the tv because i like documentery programs alot they are so interesting

Karen Polenske of MIT specializes in the study of dust storms as regional phenomena that must be planned for.  Perhaps her approach can be instructive for the Middle East: 

She has just completed a project concerning Yellow Dust-Interactive Modeling. The MIT team of faculty and students is working with others from China, Korea, and Japan, the three countries in which the yellow dust from the arid lands in China is now an annual phenomenon. It severely affects transport (closing airports and highways), industry, and also is a great threat to human health, creating both respiratory and eye problems.

The team is investigating the sequence of events that lead to the atmospheric transport of the dust and the economic and health effects this has on society.

They hope to determine the types of critical interventions needed to reduce the problem and the localities where these interventions will be most effective.

This is a new project funded by the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS).

For those of you who choose to study this problem, you may have a place at MIT to pursue it.