Climate Change Fuels U.S. Dust Storms With Dire Health Consequences

(Bloomberg) -- Dust storms—those billowing walls of sand and dirt often seen seen in the more arid regions of the world—doubled in the American Southwest between the 1990s to 2000s.

Data now suggest these weather systems in the U.S. may be associated with increased intensive care unit admissions.

The phenomenon, worsened by accelerating climate change, was the subject of the first national study on how they affect the U.S. Dust storms were associated with a 4.8% increase in local admissions to ICUs on the day of the event. Respiratory admissions increased by 9.2% on the day of the storm and again by 7.5% five days later. This second increase could be due to several causes, the authors write, including a slowly worsening respiratory condition, a lack of access to care, or conditions with a longer incubation period such as meningitis or influenza.

“There is a statistically significant increase in ICU admissions on the day of these dust storms,” said Caitlin Rublee, an emergency medical physician and co-author of the study. “We cannot say this is causal, but there is a strong association.”

July and August saw the most dust storms, raising concerns that the systems could compound critical care resource issues resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, Rublee said. 

A hypothetical severe dust storm could increase ICU admissions by nearly half on the first day, challenging providers' capacities, according to the study. The prevalence of dust storms in the Southwest has increased dramatically over the past 30 years, and has been linked to changes in ocean temperature. Drought and increased heat, both of which climate change is making worse, can exacerbate conditions for the storms.

“The greatest long-term concern is that we urgently and deliberately need to address climate change to improve human health, especially for vulnerable populations,” Rublee said. She also called for public health prevention measures, like warning vulnerable populations to stay indoors during storms and increasing staffing in critical care units to handle rising demand when storms are in the forecast. 

The study sampled between 15% and 20% of U.S. ICU data from 2000 to 2015, along with National Weather Service data on more than 800 dust storms during that same time period. The researchers factored in both air pollution and meteorological data based on zip codes.

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