Civil War in Syria Helped Cause Recent Sandstorm

Last month’s sandstorm that hit much of the Middle East was at least party caused by the civil war in Syria, according to scientists from Ben Gurion University in Israel. Using special equipment, they found that the size of the dust particles in the air were larger than any recorded since the equipment was first used in 1995. The storm covered Syria, Iraq, Israel and Cyprus with a thick layer of dust particles. The scientists said the two main reasons for the storm were a sharp decline in the amount of farm activity in northern Syria, mostly caused by Turkey’s removal of dams along the Euphrates River. In addition, the fighting in Syria caused harm to the soil crust there.