UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : WMO Press conference: Annual Sand and Dust bulletin

Good morning everybody.

Thank you very much indeed for joining us today.

Today the World Meteorological Organisation is releasing the annual Airborne Dust Bulletin.

This gives details of the hotspots, the hazards posed by sand and dust storms every year and it describes what we, what we as the World Meteorological Organisation are trying to do about it.

We release this bulletin every year just ahead of the International Day to Combat Sand and Dust Storms, which is on the 12th of July.

So that's this Saturday.

There is a high level event taking place this afternoon by the President of the General Assembly in New York.

So obviously this is something that the United Nations, the international community does take very seriously.

It is a major hazard.

And so without further ado, I will hand you over to the WMO expert on sand and dust storms and many other things also on fire, wildfires.

Her, she's a scientific officer name is Sarah Bazart, and she's with WMO's Global Atmosphere Watch network.

So without further ado, I will pass you over to, to, to, to Sarah.

The press conference will be in English.

If there's any requests for interviews, Sarah, is is Spanish, so we can give interviews in Spanish.

And you should by now all have received the press release which is available in in all official UN languages.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks a lot Claire, for the introduction and welcome everyone.

As Claire mentioned, we are here and I'm talking on behalf of the whole meteorological organisation because today is, is is the week that we are celebrating this International Day for combating San Andreas storms, which is held every year at 12th July and this year is Saturday.

Then we are advancing celebrations and this day is a is a day for rise awareness about the importance of sun and desert stones for health and and sustainability.

And it is also broad moment for us WMO for launch this regular bulletin that is focusing on air Bondas and this means sun and desert stones.

This is a critical tool in our share efforts to monitor forecast, understand San Andreas storms and also the risk associated with all of them.

Also it's important because that we we are monitoring its intensity and frequency and how all this is impacting climate, weather and ecosystems.

For example, San Andreas storms are no longer a distant and regional problem.

They are global in nature and is carrying these particles across continents, oceans and affecting air quality, health, agriculture and other social, economic sectors.

What begins in a storm in Sahara?

[Other language spoken]

What is lifted in Central Asia can alter air quality in China.

The atmosphere does not recognise borders.

The impacts are well documented.

They affect billions of people worldwide.

They doesn't stop at the borders because it travels thousands of kilometres, reducing visibility, damaging crops, grouting flights and harping your lungs.

At global scale, dust interacts with solar energy with the climate system absorbing and scattering sunlight also is altering oceans and ecosystems and for the reason is is an important element of the Earth system.

In short, this is not an isolated weather phenomena.

They are complex and and demand equally multi sectoral responses.

The our bulletin, their one dust bulletin is our global snapshot of the dust year.

In this edition, we are doing some kind of a snapshot of the dust hot spots worldwide and they are coming from Sahara, China, Central Asia, North America and even Australia.

Can you show the slide please?

[Other language spoken]

As you can see in the image, it's clearly stressed.

Where are the sources at global scale?

Mostly dominated in the Northern hemisphere.

Also in the bulletin, we are doing some screenshots, snapshot, sorry, and specific study cases trying to understand the links of these extreme events connected with climate change and land degradation.

Also, there are many data in which and many pieces in which we are trying to emphasise the links of San Andreas storms with the impacts in health and also climate.

They are costly and we know it's not just economically, it's socially and environmentally and we are stressing the need of early warning systems and Land Management strategies for reducing these impacts.

Research and advances in forecasting and monitoring is powered by WMO global network of regional centres.

At present we have 4 DAS regional centres supported by WMO which are in China, Spain, Barbados and Saudi Arabia.

The good news, we can act.

We are advancing and implementing in early warning systems now reaching more countries than ever.

Also, we are promoting a lot of cross-border cooperation, which is fundamental for creating capacity in the countries to reduce the impacts posed by this phenomena.

But we need more, we need more investment, more awareness, more collaboration and this can help us to the risk that this natural hazard is posed in environment, health and risk disaster.

Combating the root causes and impacts of sun and desert storms requires coordinated therefore and we are seeing that the United Nations, the United Nations, as Claire mentioned at the beginning, it's called it's now launched the in 2019 launched the coalition for combating Santander stones that involve more than 15 United Nation agencies and other organisations that are working together to overcome the strategy to reduce the impacts of Santander stones.

Also, the United Nations declared that the gate for Santander stones starting this year in 2025 and it's mostly focusing in creating synergies between sectors and a stressing collaboration between regions and in improving the capacity yielding the countries.

In this context, WMO and many national meteorological and meteorological services continues to build regional centres of excellence, early warning systems and promoting knowledge sharing platforms to advance and support the countries.

Countries are increasingly investing in dust monitoring, forecasting and mitigation of strategies.

These are signs of hope, but also reminded that we we must do more, faster and together.

And with that, thanks a lot for your attention and and welcome questions from the online.

Start with a question in the room and then we'll go to the platform.

So if you could just introduce yourselves, Sir.

[Other language spoken]

Is it OK for the sound?

OK, so I will ask the question.

I'm my name is Anis Pedro.

I'm working for Agence France Press.

I have two kind of questions, some questions regarded to what you present, but also some question regarding to the fires.

[Other language spoken]

You want to do that?

So the first questions, there's some sound.

No, Yeah, the the first, first questions about the bulletin, you, you say that there's no, this problem is no longer regional, but it's global.

So if you could explain why there has been this change where why before it was a regional issue and now it's global.

And then you you mentioned that you have look at the the link with the climate change and maybe if you could elaborate on that, say explaining what is the link with the climate change?

Is climate change increasing the the risk or not or yes what what are your conclusion on that?

And then maybe I will ask after a question on the files.

[Other language spoken]

Thanks a lot for your questions.

We are, we are putting the context of global because it's true that there are regions that are more affected, the ones that are connected with sources, but we are looking at the global context is the transport things that are happening in Sahara, It has spread through the Atlantic heat in Americas.

Then this became a global concern because it's transpoundary as I mentioned before and is a broad region and also because the links of dust with the with within the Earth system, it's an important component in all these climate assessment, graduative forcing assessment.

Dust is part of this global Earth system.

Then it's true that the strategies for mitigating the risk are at regional scale.

Of course, because it's region is completely different.

It's not the same what is happening in Africa than in Middle East and in China or even the regions that are receiving this transport like Europe are having this totally different strategies.

But it's a global phenomena because it's it's there are some events and this year we saw some events that start in Sahara and covers almost the whole globe is transformed.

[Other language spoken]

And about climate change, there are some some clear warnings about the risk on the frequency and the intensity.

It is a stress in the bulletin.

Every year we are taking a look for example, to the frequency and intensity in specific regions.

And for example, last year in the bulletin of the last year, it was a stress that normally in the intensity of frequency of events in South or Europe in winter time, which is not the typical season.

And it was connected with a severe drought in North Africa that that's worth fibering this then drought is climate change is is one of the risk if you have more desertification, more drought, less precipitation.

This is fibering the currents of San Andreas stones and of course we have to to look at the trends and also it's important the strategies at the national level on Land Management, which is one of the the key things here where we can do some source mitigation strategies.

But yeah, it's clearly linked with changes in climate.

[Other language spoken]

And it's also part of a vicious cycle.

If you think it was two or three years ago, we had a very bad sand and dust storm in Europe late February, March, you know, and it's sort of just covered the, you know, the Alps.

And so instead of snow, you know, we had we had sand if you if you cast your mind back.

And that year was a particularly bad year for glacier melt.

And that was, it was one of many reasons.

It wasn't the only reason, but it, you know, it was a contributing factor.

Connected with Clarice saying is the year of the glaciers and in Central Asia, for example, one of the big discussions is how desert dust, this dust is the deposite on the glaciers and is speeding up the melting of the glaciers.

If we are thinking in this specific element of their system and taking benefit of the year of the glaciers, we can mention also this connection with the cryosphere, for example, if.

We take the questions on sand and dust 1st and then we'll come back to the wildfires at the at the end, if that's if that's OK.

Yes, just a follow up on what you explained, but my first question on the regional global was more like you presented like it's no longer a regional problem and now it's a global.

But I mean the the sand coming from from the desert, I guess it was already moving from continent to another continent even many years before the the climate change.

[Other language spoken]

It's a global concern, but the mitigation of strategies and adaptation of strategies must be at regional.

Maybe this is different when you talk about the impact is global distributed, the strategies for mitigating are considered that needs to be regional.

And I think we're probably better now at connecting things, coordinating than than we were even 10 years ago.

So as Sarah said, we have the regional centres for forecasting.

So Barcelona does centre is responsible for Europe, North Africa, Beijing for for China, then we have Barbados for the Caribbean and Saudi Arabia now for for the Middle East.

But they all work very much, very much together.

And so we are better now at sort of connecting the dots and crossing, you know crossing the TS than than we were before.

And there is this now the a pretty active global, global coalition, which there wasn't, you know, even six years ago was 2019.

[Other language spoken]

And so if we go now to the platform, Jeremy, yes, thank you.

[Other language spoken]

The first two questions is regarding numbers.

I'd like you some explanation on on the button.

You said that every year you have 2000 million of tonnes of sand and dust that enters the atmosphere.

I'm terrible with math here, but can we say that it's 2 billion actually like 2000 million is is 2 billion?

That's correct.

[Other language spoken]

Second question is, is also you, you're mentioning that 300 and and 30 million people are affected, but at the same time you're saying in the button that three, nearly 4 billion people are exposed to dust levels according to The Who safety guidelines.

So how do you explain the discrepancy between 300 million people affected and 3 billion exposed to dust levels?

And the last question not on others, I promise This time, uh, is umm, about C.

Can you elaborate a bit more on the consequences?

We, we, we talk about the glitches, but, uh, the, the, I, I think it's quite interesting.

But what you're saying in the bottom is that dust storm is not only like dirty windows on your cars and the reddish sky is more than that.

So how can you explain what are the consequences on agriculture and solar production for instance?

Now you can hear me pardon, starting from the first question about the dust emissions, 2,000,002 billion.

Sorry, it was the estimation in the last IPCC 2013 if I'm not wrong and we are using this number as a reference.

But it's true that there are advances in science and the climate global community is advancing because it's it's it's having uncertainties this estimation and it's in each IPCC is trying to reduce the uncertainty on the estimations.

But 2,000,000 is a good order of magnitude.

The important thing is to understand what are the sources of these emissions.

And the community agreed that 80% of the total emissions at global scale are coming from North Africa and the Middle East.

This is the where we have the hot, the big hot spot at global scale.

About the second question that you mentioned it was about people exposed.

I, I don't know where is the number that you mention of of 2,000,000 or 3,000,000, but in the bulletin it's mentioned 11 recent publication in Lancet come down is one of the reference journals on climate and health impacts.

And in this in this study, I'm looking at the bulletin to don't say anything wrong, but it's not mentioned explicitly any number in terms of 1,000,000, but it did this was clear in this in this analysis that is based on reanalysis in modelling tools is that all countries worldwide are affected somehow on sun and desert stones are the population is exposed to this sun and desert stones.

And there are some countries that are more affected, of course, the ones that are close to the sources.

And the point here is to understand how many days per year you are exposed to concentrations over the thresholds that The Who air quality guidelines impose.

For particles, this means PM 10 and PM 2.5 that are particular matters with a specific sizes of 10 microns and 2.5 microns.

Then what is emphasising the study is that now in the last years the people is more exposed than in the early 2000s for example.

But yeah, it was almost 3 billion people in this study that it was mentioned.

I don't know where you find the the other 4 but.

I, I think the one of the figures we give is a is a general figure.

And I think there's a difference between people who are sort of exposed to it and then people who are really affected by the, you know, when the air quality deteriorates below The Who safety, safety guidelines, when you've got the part particle matter goes above a certain level.

So there is, you know there is a subtle difference.

In fact, in the in the bulletin, what is stressed is that 30% of this increase is covered by 3 billion people.

But yeah, we can, we can, yeah, depending on the interpretation on the number, this can change a bit.

But the point is that it is recognised that dust is covering the whole loaf and somehow all of us we are exposed to to these particles.

Jeremy, I think you had one last question, didn't you, The, was it the impacts on agriculture?

Could you, could you just repeat the last question?

It was the only one with no numbers in it.

If you can elaborate on, on the, on the consequences, I mean for agriculture, solar production, things that we don't necessarily think of.

Sorry, impacts in socio economic sectors.

The the more clear is the visibility reductions that is affecting basically transportation, ground transportation but also airports, solar energy.

If you're thinking that particles are suspended on the air, this goes changes in the solar irradiance that are arriving to the panels.

But on top of that also that is a nice nucleation.

It's, it's having very, how to say it's a, it's an element that favours the, the formation of cloud because it's, it's having a very strong component with the cloud formation.

Then this is affecting the cloud formation that in turn, in turn is also connected with the irradiance that is arriving to your panels.

Because if you have cloud, obviously it is reduced.

Apart from that you have the deposition of these particles on the panels that if you're thinking that solar energy, big farms are in areas where you have more desertic soils, this means cleaning and cleaning is having a cost.

Then it's very important for this, this sector, solar sector, to know about this deposition on the panels.

That is called soiling because as much as you have more particles, the efficiency of the panel is reduced and then of course, your production is reduced.

But on top of that is the cleaning that is costly because water is a precious element in some deserted places.

If you think in agriculture is also the deposition on dust on the on the crops when they are at the beginning of the phases of growing.

If you have a lot of dust, this can destroy the crop.

But also it's connected with diversification, with the stability of the soils.

Also, if you have a lot of dust, you reduce again the solar irradiance that is arriving to your plants.

Then this is affecting the the cycle.

But also the good news is that dust is a good nutrient for ecosystems.

I mean, it's not everything bad.

If you have few dust, this can be very good because it's a fertiliser.

Phosphorus and iodine are elements inside dust that are favouring, for example ocean geochemistry processes, but also the fertilisation of the Amazonas.

Then there are things that are good and things that are not so good.

But here the the importance is to the to to understand when the hazard starts.

[Other language spoken]

We'll have one more from the platform and then go into the room.

So Christiane Erich of the German News Agency.

[Other language spoken]

Please bear with me.

This figure of 2 billion tonnes is 12 years old.

Are the other figures also pulled from old reports or are there new figures in this report?

Is the problem of sand and dust storms bigger than before or not bigger than before?

Is there a figure that could show us that the problem has increased or decreased and can you?

What is the distinction between sand and dust?

We were mostly talking about dust now, but is there a distinction between sand and dust or is that a fluid, fluid change?

And my last question is what is the the role of wildfires in sand and dust distribution?

Because I understood from the question earlier today that there is a connection between wildfires and dust.

[Other language spoken]

Mike, if I not answer all your questions, just let me know because I'm not sure if I got all of them.

[Other language spoken]

About emissions, we have a large a large uncertainty.

Depending on the study that you are looking at, the estimations of the dust emissions can be very different.

One of the reasons of these large variability is because you cannot measure properly emissions.

What we are measuring is concentrations in the air.

Then what we are trying to improve is the estimation of the emissions based on what we are know for sure that are the concentrations in the air.

Then as you can see in the bulletin, there is this surface concentration annual average and what we are trying to track is there are some differences year by year on this concentration of particles in the air.

Then from these concentrations in the air is when we are trying to understand the mission flexes.

But it's true that is more challenging to measure flexes of emission than concentrations.

Then then certainties are larger in these estimations because depending on the methodology it can have some broad ranges of values.

But the orders of magnitude in which all the studies agree is billions, tonnes, that's put tonnes of dust are emitted in the air.

For atmospheric concerns.

The important thing is to understand the concentrations of these particles in the air and also the positions, for example.

Then we are trying to explain about the emissions, but what we are looking mostly as important parameters are concentrations and depositions.

The other question was, is it getting worse?

The is.

[Other language spoken]

This is the the question that is recurring in all these conversations with journalists and other sectors.

It depends on the region.

As you see in the bulletin, in the main fewer this year we have a blue colour of our sources, meaning that it seems that on sources we have less emissions, less concentrations, but in red it's stressed the transport.

We are having an increase of transport beyond the sources.

Then for us it's important to yeah, you can show the map, please, if we just.

Have the map.

[Other language spoken]

As you can see here in blue, we are having basically the hottest spot of global scale.

Where are the most important emission at global scales.

But the important thing here is that in Middle East, in Central Asia, we have a very strong hot spot.

But if you see the reddish colour are connected with the transport, which is important because this means that more countries are affected by this transboundary transport.

It's not just in sources, but even though in sources we have high, high occurrence of events.

It's true that maybe the intensity, it's lower than previous years, but it's happening.

The important thing here in this figure is that we are, we are looking at the map and we can see that transport is growing at least with compare in comparison with the climatological time series that we have.

And the third question was about connection, wildfires and and dust.

There is a connection and some researchers in North America are stressing this connection.

When you have a wildfire, after the wildfire, the the vegetation is reduced, the soils are exposed and then it begins sometimes to to produce some small sun and other stones very localised in these areas that are burned.

And it's true, when you have no vegetation and you have soil exposed, then this is a consequence of wildfires.

A question in the room and then we'll go to you.

[Other language spoken]

Afterwards, Sir, I will keep my questions on the what.

[Other language spoken]

My name is Yixin with China Media Group.

My question is I want to follow up the first question about the link between dust stone and the climate change.

Just dust stores to the common in China, but usually.

In Spring and I.

See the report to mentioned last year in June.

There is a.

Summer dust storm in northern China.

So would you please elaborate?

On it with more.

Details how the summer dust.

[Other language spoken]

With the link with the climate change, the extreme.

Weather and what's the looking ahead?

What's the new change would be in China's dust stone under the context of climate change?

[Other language spoken]

Yeah, we have big deserts there.

And what we are looking in this monitoring of the year in the last past 9 envisions of the bulletin is that in the last years, we are looking at the, it's happening that there are more events in seasons where it's not the dusty season.

As you mentioned in China, there were this huge event in a season that is more anomalous to find these extreme events.

And this is connected with the climate system, the Earth system, because again, dust is an important element of the Earth system.

This means that changes in the land conditions but also changes in the global circulation patterns are affecting this occurrence of extreme events.

And for example, there are studies in from Asian researchers that are stressing as a as a potential factor of changes in the circulation on the regional circulation in East Asia and the Pacific anomalies in the sea suit first temperature of the ocean.

This can cause some changes in the circulation patterns that are anomalous and this can cause is is linked to these occurrence of extreme events out of the season.

Also in the case of China, the they are detecting these extreme events more regularly, meaning that there is a strong signal there that we have to take a more closer look and monitor better to understand the reasons of these extreme events.

But it's true that is happening in the last years more more extreme exceptional events in the catalogue that it was tracked by the by the.

In that case is the Beijing Daas Regional Centre that is looking at the occurrence of sun and desert stones and providing forecast and monitoring tools for the countries in the region via is China, Japan, Korea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan.

All these part of the region is covered by the Beijing Daas Regional Centre and the connection with the health.

Of course, if there are new sources, because this is also happening, the dedicated bodies, the reduction of the ice covered, all these factors are producing new sources.

They are very localised but they can also impact people and people means health means socio economic activities means economies.

And it's true that more and more countries are trying to monitor changes in the land that can forward the currents of new hotter spots of San Andez storms.

Also China is having a lot of strategies for source mitigation like the the Greenbelt that you have in the coffee desert is 1 good example.

But it's true that climate change is fair in land degradation and desertification.

Then we have to be aware that countries needs to monitor these changes and keep inside these potential rewarding systems that can alert about potential new activity in areas where it is not common.

Yes, some follow up to to the questions beyond looking last year 2023-2024.

More generally, could you say if the the sand and dust problem is getting worse or not?

We're trying to understand that better if it's a problem that is growing or not.

I mean, for example, for the temperature there is increase temperature with the climate change, the glass here we understand.

But but on this specific issue, if you could say if this is a problem which is getting worse or not and then the press release say that economic cost are rising.

Could you give us the figures that show that economies cost are are arising over the the the years?

[Other language spoken]

If you look at the global average, again the problem it's rising because it's getting worse in some regions, but in in sources, for example, Sahara, Sahara and they live under this condition of sources of dust intense and under the storms.

And you can see that the population is not dense around this hot spot of dust.

What is getting worse is that we are having more and more sun under the stones in those areas where regular where before we're not having any warning.

And now we have start to have more and more warnings in areas more populated, which is affecting people and economy.

Also growing economies as in the Middle East in in the Arabian Peninsula, they are growing the volume of air traffic.

For example, they are having more airlines in the Middle East countries and this is a increasing the risk.

Also, we are having more monitoring tools and now we are more aware about the extreme events because keep in mind that the first satellite that allow us to really quantify the amount of dust in the atmosphere, it was modest.

It was in 2000.

Then getting better and worse in climate scales is risky to say because you need 30 years.

What we can tell you is that the year by year we are detecting more anomalous events in those regions where the people is living and sometimes are coming from sources that are not the typical deserts are small sources that were inactive and now we came more active because changes in atmospheric circulation.

Then it's getting worse in some parts of the world, yes, because some before they won't, they won't have this problem.

And here high latitude dust is a good example.

Production of the ice are exposing soils and this became a new warning for some regions that before they never had this warning.

Then it's getting worse, yes, especially in some specific regions of the world.

And a high latitude does with the reduction of the ice are getting more and more activity that before it was very sparse, you know, it was very exceptional.

And now Iceland is, is a good example if you are asking me in Europe, but also climate projections are telling us that southern Europe, for example, it's became a desert.

Then it's a start, another warning.

Then it's not just climate change, global circulation, it's also what is happening on the land that it's, it's favouring that we will have more and more and transport of dust.

In Europe.

We had an anomaly in between 2020 and 23.

As Claire mentioned, there were a record-breaking event in Europe in 2022.

That is, it was exceptional in all that records that we have.

[Other language spoken]

The occurrence of these events is getting worse, Yeah.

And we have to monitor this occurrence.

But again, it's very specific on regions.

And your second question was about the economic, the economic part in the bulletin, if you try to establish the impact in economic terms of sun and desert storms, there are very few, few, few assessments.

And in the report we are emphasising the need to start to push more impact, cost of benefit studies connected with sun and other stones.

Because in both many sectors and in the bulletin, what you will see is the summary of one article published in Nature that is trying to explain that we are underestimating this cost connected with sun and dust.

Because probably we are not involved in all the sectors that are having this impact.

Then the estimation of the cost probably can, can have again, a broader spectrum of, of losses and cost benefit.

But the important thing here is to start to stress that sometimes some events are connected with a thunderstorm, but the secondary effect is a kaboob, that is this wall of dust that is connected with the convective cell.

And then in the case of the database of risk disaster, probably they don't add the dust component, just leaving the first element that is the thunderstorm.

This kind of discussions are the need.

The one that this article isn't is for example emphasising also car accidents due to reductions of visibility.

Most of the time they are not reported that the reason of the reduction was done on that then what is a stress in this piece is that we can do estimations, but it's clear that the impact, the cost impact of sun and as a storms it's totally underestimate.

[Other language spoken]

So on wildfires, I have a series of questions, sorry for that, but we were told you are the experts, so we take advantage of that.

Yes, on the 1st on the causes, How do wildfires contribute to climate change and how does climate change inflates itself on the on the wildfire risks, on the prevention.

If you if you could tell us how much do you think we are prepared to to face forest fires?

What could be done to to to be more prepared in particular in the high risk areas and and then how does climate change alter the the fire regimes in the forest?

What are the possible future scenarios?

[Other language spoken]

Fires another, another key element in the Earth system, because again it's something that is not just atmospheric, is also land conditions.

And obviously if there is an increase of temperatures, reduction of precipitation, vegetation became dry.

This is full that easily can be burned and then you will have these emissions that will goes to the atmosphere.

Again there are gazes and aerosols.

This connects with this exchange of energy between sun and the atmosphere, meaning the famous radiative force in tracked by the IPCC.

Aerosols and greenhouse and other elements of the atmospheric composition are then connected.

Then this worsen the climate change, right?

Because you have emissions in the air and then you're worsen this event, this course.

You have then reductions of precipitation, changes in cloud formation, increasing on temperature and this affects the lung condition that became a cycle.

If you are worsening the conditions, you're increasing the risk of fires, right?

This is inter intertwined, is interlinked.

There is, there is.

We have to be aware that they are part of these emissions that we are talking about when we want to reduce emissions to reduce the impact of climate change.

This is the link what we can do here.

There is a important human intervention policies at country level can do a very big difference between a high impact season or a less impact season in a specific regions.

And experts in Canada, in Amazonas, in the state, they can tell you that if you can prepare the season in advance to put resources to, to do some kind of mediation strategies before the season, this can help to reduce the risk.

But there is a risk coming from the climate system.

This is clear.

But also the prevention, the preparedness and the interventions from national government is having a very strong component here on the, on the how big can be your, your fire.

But it's true in any case that these big fires are happening more frequently.

And when we think about these big fires, you can think in North America, Canada last season or Amazonas.

And this is partly caused because climb climatic factors, this is right.

But what we can do is to reduce the risk through better mitigation and preparedness strategies.

And your last question, I think that it was the two of them not right?

It's the last question was about the, the possible future scenarios.

[Other language spoken]

Are we going to see those kind of fires more frequently and in a more large part of the year like we're seeing a heat waves they they're not just in July or August, but in summer, but in in a larger.

[Other language spoken]

What are the the scenarios and the which direction are we going?

[Other language spoken]

The IPCC projections studies in the in, in, I think that it was in the last report we're establishing that if we pass the film 2° in annual average of temperature fires will increase about 30% considering the different scenarios.

And also this means 20% of bird areas increase on the bird areas.

It's not just the emissions itself is how much is extended.

And as I said, there is a kind, there is a part that is climate and the risk is there because it's a climatic risk here.

But it's true that somehow you can reduce the risk if you are prepared and it's true that the projections are telling us that with these scenarios of increasing temperatures chances in precipitation, obviously the risk is higher outside the some are boreal or the some are in the north or in the South, depending on the on the hemisphere.

The months can can appear fires in months that are not the typical risky fire season.

[Other language spoken]

In the WMO community, we quite often talk about fire weather.

So for instance, I know the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia, which is, you know, country which is regularly affected by, by, by fires.

They talk about an increasing risk of fire weather, which is, you know, dryness, heat, quite often wind.

But you also need to factor in that quite quite often wildfires are started by humans.

You know, that is, that is more difficult to, to, to control.

But as Sarah said, a lot of it is prevention is it's, it's Land Management, it's forest, it's forest management.

And there you can, you can do, you know, quite, quite a lot to, to control the, the risk.

I don't see any more questions on the platform or in the room.

So thank you very much indeed to you NTV for hosting this.

Thanks very much indeed for everybody who participated.

[Other language spoken]

WMO Press conference: Annual Sand and Dust bulletin - 10 July 2025