Baghdad, Najaf airports suspend flights

On Sunday, the administrations of Baghdad and Najaf international airports announced the suspension of flights at the two airports due to bad weather.

The Baghdad Airport Administration said in a statement that it was decided to suspend air traffic for the day due to bad weather conditions and visibility of fewer than 500 meters.

For his part, the media of Najaf Airport also announced on Sunday, the suspension of flights due to the bad weather.

According to Saturday's statement of Iraq's meteorological authority, the coming days will witness dust storms in the central and southern region, while there will be rain in the Kurdistan Region and temperatures will drop relatively during the days of Eid Al-Fitr.

The two airports had suspended flights several times before due to frequent dust storms that have been sweeping Iraqi governorates since the beginning of Spring. Dust storms were not as frequent in previous years.  

While sand and dust storms are not uncommon during the Iraqi spring, they are expected to become even more frequent due to drought, desertification, and declining rainfall.

Iraq is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with record low rainfall and high temperatures in recent years.

In November, the World Bank warned that Iraq could suffer a 20 percent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change.



PUKmedia