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This is Kuwait City as another sandstorm rolls in from Iraq. Hundreds of metres high, they travel across from the Arabian Desert at speeds of up to 100kph, costing the region's economies dearly. "They have increased remarkably," says Essa Ramadan, senior meteorologist at the Kuwait Meteorological Department. The reasons? "Dam-building in Turkey, climate change and the environmental destruction in the wake of the Gulf War."

But Kuwait is fighting back. Volunteer organisation Kuwait Oasis is working to plant 315,000 trees along the country's borders by 2019 to hold back the moving sands.


A similar initiative in Mongolia's Kubuqi Desert reduced sandstorms from 80 a year to fewer than five. Both use Waterboxx plant incubators from Dutch startup Groasis Technologies. These collect water from the air at night via condensation and prevent its evaporation during the day, so each tree consumes 35 times less water than with standard irrigation.

One factor that isn't helping the cause, however, is war. "Conflicts are a big barrier," says Ramadan. "Ultimately we need the co-operation of Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

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WIRED Big Picture


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Gallery: Kuwait is fighting back against sandstorms -- with trees Gallery Gallery: Kuwait is fighting back against sandstorms -- with trees + 15

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