“In Gulf waters, SDSs are a main cause of sediments that can clog up nearby lakes and marshlands, and sometimes even cover large swathes of the Gulf waterway,” wrote Banafsheh Keynoush, a foreign affairs scholar and a fellow at the International Institute for Iranian Studies.
“Even renewable solar panels malfunction when covered by dust. Given these factors, it becomes evident that SDSs participate in a vicious cycle: Climate change causes the storms, and the storms exacerbate the impacts of climate change. Socio-economic life revolves around weather patterns, so livelihoods are severely threatened,” added Keynoush.