1.2.4Active indicatorAir Pollution from Sand and Dust Storms
1.1Heat and health
1.2Health and extreme weather-related events
1.3Climate suitability for infectious disease transmission
Indicator 1.2.4 · Hazards
Air Pollution from Sand and Dust Storms
Air Pollution from sand and dust storms pose multiple risks to health. Exposure to mineral dust PM₁₀ can increase the risk of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and premature death, while transported dust can spread soil-dwelling pathogens and reduce visibility, increasing the risk of transport accidents. Drought, poor land management, and increased wildfire-burned areas can increase the risk of sand and dust storms. This indicator tracks proportion of global land with significant changes in dust PM₁₀ concentration.
Headline finding
Between 2006–25, the annual average concentration of desert dust increased in 7% of global land and decreased in 12%
Figure 1
Sand and Dust Storms
Using the average of four reanalysis models, this map shows the trend in dust PM₁₀ concentration from 2006 to 2025. For context, the World Health Organization (WHO) daily PM₁₀ guideline is 45 µg/m³. Trends are shown only where they are statistically significant (p < 0.05) and at least 0.05 µg/m³ in magnitude; other areas are shown in grey. Red indicates an increasing trend in dust PM₁₀ concentration, while blue indicates a decreasing trend.
Please reference the 2026 Report of the Lancet Countdown if using this data • For a full description of the indicator, see the 2026 report of the Lancet Countdown at lancetcountdown.org
About this indicator
Description
This indicator tracks average annual levels of PM₁₀ air pollution from sand and dust. To do so, it uses an ensemble estimate from four state-of-the-art global aerosol reanalysis datasets, due to the in-situ monitoring gap in many regions of the world. All data are processed to a standard unit (i.e. µg/m3) and grid (horizontal spatial resolution of 0.1° x 0.1°) to produce a multi-model ensemble PM₁₀ -dust product. The global dust product is the average of the four estimates, provided at annual level.
Authors
Dr. Daniel Tong, Dr. Peng Xian, Dr. Sara Basart, Dr. Patricia Castellanos
Caveats
Satellite observations incorporated into these reanalyses are limited by temporal coverage (once or twice a day) and cloud cover, and ground observations by spatial coverage.
This indicator was last updated in September 2026
Data sources
- CAMS-RA. Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service Reanalysis.
- Naval Research Laboratory Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System Reanalysis (NAAPS-RA). US Naval Research Laboratory.
- Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (NASA MERRA-2), 2022. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
- System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric composition (SILAM). Finnish Meteorological Institute.
- Gridded Population of the World Version 4, 2021. Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.