Central Asia sees sharp rise in dust storms

Tajikistan has announced an unprecedented rise in dust storms. Over the past 12 months, meteorologists recorded 63 such weather events, lasting a total of 216 days, or almost 60 per cent of the year.

These figures were presented on 29 January by Bahodur Sheralizoda, Chairman of the country’s Committee for Environmental Protection. He noted that each dust storm reaching the republic typically persists for several days, while their origins lie far beyond the country’s borders.

According to Sheralizoda, dust and sand are carried into Central Asia by cyclonic systems originating in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. By comparison, 35 dust storms were recorded in Tajikistan in 2024, although their cumulative duration was not specified at the time, highlighting the scale of change seen over the past year.

A long-term increase over three decades

The longer-term trend is even more concerning. According to a United Nations report, Situational Analysis: Dust and Sandstorms in Central Asia, the number of dust and sandstorms in Tajikistan has increased more than tenfold over the past three decades.

In the early 1990s, only two or three such hazardous events were recorded annually. In recent years, however, more than 35 dust and sandstorms have been registered each year.

This growing frequency has had a direct impact on air quality. In 2024, Tajikistan ranked sixth in the world for PM2.5 pollution levels, while Dushanbe had previously been listed among the four most polluted capital cities globally.

Climate change and land degradation 

Experts attribute the rise in dust storms across Central Asia to a combination of interrelated factors, with climate change playing a central role.

A sharp decline in precipitation has led to prolonged droughts, accelerating the loss of vegetation cover across large areas of the region. As soils dry out and become exposed, even moderate winds are able to lift dust, sand and salts into the atmosphere.

According to United Nations data, more than 152 million hectares of land in Central Asia, or over 38 per cent of the region’s total territory, are affected by drought, with 1.33 per cent classified as experiencing severe drought and 0.23 per cent as extreme drought.

These climatic pressures are compounded by human activity. The degradation of irrigated farmland has intensified desertification processes, turning once productive agricultural land into a significant source of airborne dust.

Today, around 30 per cent of agricultural land across Central Asian countries is considered severely degraded, allowing fine soil particles to be transported over long distances, in some cases reaching mountainous regions.

Another major contributor is the continued drying of the Aral Sea. Over recent months, increasing volumes of dust, sand and salt have been lifted from its exposed seabed.

Combined with strong regional winds, including those originating from arid areas of Afghanistan, dust storms are now reaching regions that were previously less affected.

Experts from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification emphasise that while dust and sandstorms are a seasonal natural phenomenon, their impact is significantly intensified by poor land and water management.

This includes the silting of irrigation canals, disruption to transport systems and deterioration in the quality of surface water.

Urban growth and limits of mitigation

Rapid urbanisation has also played a role. Across Central Asia, the expansion of construction sites, particularly in major cities, has often taken place without sufficient attention to urban greening.

Exposed soil becomes an additional source of dust, while dense high-rise development can trap polluted air, preventing dust and sand from dispersing and prolonging poor air quality in urban areas.

International experience suggests that mitigation is possible. One of the most successful examples is the creation of a green belt along the edge of the Kubuqi Desert in China’s Inner Mongolia, where decades of afforestation have stabilised hundreds of square kilometres of land.

In Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan continue large-scale tree planting efforts on the dried seabed of the Aral Sea. By 2025, more than one million hectares have already been planted with saxaul, a drought-resistant species well suited to arid conditions.

Despite these efforts, regional analysts note that efforts to combat desertification and dust storms are constrained by weak programmes and limited institutional capacity.

In Tajikistan, research remains underdeveloped due to a lack of qualified specialists and a weak scientific base.

Experts therefore stress the need for greater investment in professional training, modernised meteorological monitoring, and stronger regional and international cooperation to improve early warning, preparedness, and forecasting in the face of growing environmental instability.

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