The Middle East is the second largest global dust source, and unlike North Africa, a large part of the population lives in cities near to deserts that are directly affected by dust storms, causing substantial damage to natural and human ecosystems (Goudie, 2014; Doronzo et al., 2016, 2019; Soleimani et al., 2019; Rashki et al., 2021; Malamiri et al., 2022). Consequently, around 40 million people in the region, including populations in Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and UAEs, are affected by dust source areas resulting from draining the water within the Mesopotamian Flood Plain and from vast sandy deserts (Darvishi-Boloorani et al., 2021; Al-Dousari et al., 2022). During the past decade, southwest Iran, and particularly Khuzestan Province (KHP), has been affected by several intense dust storms and sandstorms (Salmabadi et al., 2020; Hamzeh et al., 2021a). Unfortunately, as a result of prolonged droughts, mismanagement, excessive dam construction, and extensive damage from the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, this phenomenon has become a challenging crisis in recent years (Al-Ghadban et al., 1999; Subramaniam et al., 2015; Hamzeh et al., 2021b; Papi et al., 2022). Khuzestan Province is Iran's petroleum hub and accounts for about 15% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This means that dust hazards could highly affect the province's economy and social affairs, and in turn, the country's economy. As a result, socio-economic instability and hydro-climatological drought in the Middle East and the Khuzestan region may exacerbate the land susceptibility to SDSs (Gholami et al., 2019, 2020a; Zittis et al., 2022).
Beyond the perturbations in weather, meteorological dynamics and climate (Jin et al., 2016; Kaskaoutis et al., 2018; Schepanski, 2018), several negative effects of sand/dust storms (SDSs) have been reported on the socio-economic life (Jeong, 2008; Tozer and Leys, 2013; Al-Dousari et al., 2020), human health, such as allergies, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and eyes irritation (Khaniabadi et al., 2017; Al-Dousari et al., 2018; Goudie, 2020; Soleimani et al., 2020; Aghababaeian et al., 2021; Nkosi et al., 2022), crime (Jones, 2022), agricultural production (Stefanski and Sivakumar, 2009; Pahlavanravi et al., 2012; Gross et al., 2021), transportation (Al-Dousari et al., 2019; AlKheder and AlKandari, 2020; Miri et al., 2022), sustainable energy production (Kosmopoulos et al., 2018; Al-Dousari et al., 2020; Gholami et al., 2020b), migration and societal changes (Castaneda et al., 2009; McLeman, 2013; Hornbeck, 2020; Zanganeh and Boroughani, 2021). SDSs not only cause respiratory diseases like asthma (Griffin, 2007; Meibodi et al., 2015) but also negatively affect the entire community via effects on mental health (Boloorani et al., 2021). In addition, they reduce horizontal visibility (1ess than 1000 meters) and increase the number of road accidents (bodily damage/death) during severe dust-storm events. Miri and Middleton (2022) reported that during the past decade, the cost of damages (CODs) caused by SDSs in southeastern Iran (Sistan region) was over US$46.5 million, of which road transport accounted for the majority (66%). Dust deposition on the plant leafs also delay plant’s development, reduce agriculture product quality and weight, and significantly increase pests in the dust clouds (Stefanski and Sivakumar, 2009). On the other hand, vulnerability to dust storms is determined by the duration, mass volume, proximity to dust sources, particle size, physical and chemical dust properties, and wind characteristics (Miri et al., 2009; Parajuli et al., 2019; Darvishi-Boloorani et al., 2023).
Although more than 77% of the member countries (total of 151) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) suffer from adverse impacts of dust storms (Middleton and Kang, 2017), few studies have been conducted to assess the economic impact of SDSs to national or regional economies. Meanwhile, in some countries such as Iran, Iraq (Meibodi et al., 2015), China (Ai and Polenske, 2008), the USA (Pimentel et al., 1995), and South Korea (Jeong, 2008), the reported damages caused by SDSs were about US$1000, 1400, 265, 9600 and 5600 million, respectively. Furthermore, the economic impact of dust storms on oil exports and aviation in Kuwait between 2001 and 2014 was estimated to be US$9.36 million (Al-Hemoud et al., 2019). Although numerous studies have been carried out about distinct characteristics (chemical, optical, physical) of dust storms in Khuzestan, SW Iran (Zarasvandi et al., 2011; Broomandi et al., 2017a; Ahmady-Birgani et al., 2018; Malamiri et al., 2019, 2022; Salmabadi et al., 2020; Mohammadpour et al., 2020), only a few works have dealt on the effects of dust storms in this province (Khaledi, 2013; Monjezi et al., 2020; Darvishi-Boloorani et al., 2021).
To mitigate the consequences and adverse impacts of dust storms on various aspects of human life and the environment, it is imperative to conduct risk assessments across socio-ecological and economic systems. Such assessments are of paramount importance in understanding the vulnerability and resilience of affected communities (Duniway et al., 2019; Barzaman et al., 2022). In this context, the present research aims to comprehensively examine the socio-economic effects of SDSs within three key economic sectors in Khuzestan Province: (i) human health, (ii) agricultural production, and (iii) migration over the period spanning from 1960 to 2020.
Despite Khuzestan Province being one of the regions most severely impacted by dust storms in Iran (Salmabadi et al., 2020; Shahsavani et al., 2020; Hamzeh et al., 2021a) and experiencing significant detrimental effects on human health (Goudarzi et al., 2018; Najmeddin and Keshavarzi, 2019; Nazarpour et al., 2019), the socio-economic impacts and costs of dust storms in the province remain inadequately documented.