Experiencing a sand or dust storm can be 

frightening. As rolling
clouds engulf everything in their path, the tempests turn day
into night and wreak havoc on humans and nature. The most
ferocious are like tsunamis of sand.

These storms affect some 330 million people around the world,

from Sub-Saharan Africa to Northern China to Australia.

That tally is poised to rise.

A combination of climate change and land mismanagement is

stripping semi-arid areas of vegetation, leading to
desertification and feeding a series of more frequent, more
brutal storms.

The United Nations earlier this year designated July 12 as the

first International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms. The
move was designed to raise awareness about the threats
posed by these squalls and to spur on the international effort to
counter them.

“We don’t have to resign ourselves to a future where

communities in arid and semi-arid environments are continually
battered by dust storms,” said Doreen Robinson, the Head of
the Biodiversity and Land Branch at the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP). “By restoring parched
landscapes and meaningfully lowering greenhouse gas
emissions, we can lessen the chances of monster storms and
make life better for tens of millions of people.”

With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about

sand and dust storms, and how humanity can rein in their
destructive impact.