Authorities in Baghdad, including the
Education Ministry, declared a day off for local government institutions, with
the exception of health services. Hundreds of people across the capital and
southern cities went to hospitals with breathing difficulties, medical
officials said. Baghdad International Airport said in a
statement it was closing its airspace and halting all flights until further
notice because of low visibility. At least one sandstorm a week has hit Iraq
in the past few weeks in what Iraqis say is the worst such spate in living
memory. "It's every three or four days
now," said taxi driver Ahmed Zaman, 23. "It's clearly a result of
climate change and lack of rain, whenever there's wind it just kicks up dust
and sand." In Baghdad and southern Iraqi cities, a red
haze of dust and sand reduced visibility to just a few hundred feet. "We've had 75 cases of people with
respiratory problems," said Ihsan Mawlood, an accident and emergency
doctor in a Baghdad hospital. "We're treating patients with oxygen
machines if necessary." Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable country
in the world to the climate crisis, according to the United Nations. Drought and extreme temperatures are drying
up farmland and making large parts of Iraq barely habitable during the summer
months. The country posted record temperatures of at least 52 degrees Celsius
in recent years.