Environmental Crisis; Dust Storms Send 20,000 People to Emergency Rooms in South Khorasan

The Deputy of Treatment at Birjand University of Medical Sciences announced that from July 21 to 27, 20,347 people in South Khorasan province were sent to emergency rooms due to dust storms. According to Akbar Ismaili, of this number, 18,000 were treated on an outpatient basis and 2,200 were hospitalized. He added that 1,104 of the patients were suffering from cardiovascular diseases, and over 1,000 were respiratory patients. The majority of the patients came from the cities of Birjand, Darmian, Zirkuh, and Nahbandan. South Khorasan is among the top six provinces in Iran for dust storms, with an annual dust load of 700,000 tons. Meanwhile, a sandstorm in Sistan and Baluchestan in recent weeks had also sent over 1,000 residents of that province to hospitals. Experts at a specialized meeting on water, development, and climate migration held on June 29 by the Iranian Migration Observatory in Tehran stated that, in addition to a 76% reduction in renewable water resources over the past half-century, Iran ranks last in policymaking and performance regarding climate change and internal migration due to events in this sector. Kazem Kordvani, a sociologist, stated in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America that between 2011 and 2016, more than 4 million Iranians were forced to change their residence within the country, attributing the main reasons for increased internal migration to 'poverty, unemployment, and climate issues.' The 120-day winds in Sistan and Baluchestan have sent 1,000 people to medical centers, while a dust storm has sent 1,059 people to hospitals in Sistan and Baluchestan. The seventh wave of dust clouds has entered Iran, leading to the closure of several provinces in the west, center, and east of the country. 43% of wetlands are becoming sources of dust, and dust storms have sent 12,000 Khuzestani residents to medical centers in the spring.