World Meteorological Organization: Dust storms reached record levels in 2025

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Thursday that dust storms reached record levels in some countries in 2025, particularly in China and along the US-Mexico border.

The organization’s latest report on atmospheric dust noted that these phenomena have impacted public health and the environment, as well as disrupted economic activity and transportation.

According to the WMO’s findings, “the global annual average surface dust concentration remained close to its 2024 level, despite significant regional variations.”

The highest concentrations were again recorded in Boulel, Chad, one of the most active dust-emitting regions, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

China experienced “the most severe dust storm recorded in the country in the past decade in terms of intensity, geographic extent, and duration,” when a dust storm from Mongolia swept across the country in April 2025, the WMO stated.

In the desert region along the US-Mexico border, dust storms were “exceptionally frequent, intense, and long-lasting.” The city of El Paso, Texas, experienced 50 days of dust storms in 2025, more than double the annual average.

Approximately two billion tons of dust are released into the atmosphere annually, capable of traveling distances of hundreds to thousands of kilometers across continents and oceans.