Several Anatolian cities now have dangerously low air quality, in the wake of dust storms and the movement of dust across Turkey this month. In the provinces of Nevşehir, Kırşehir and Yozgat, the volume of particles is between 300 and 500 micrograms per cubic meter, far higher than the average acceptable level of 50 micrograms per cubic meter set by World Health Organization (WHO).

A low pressure system from North Africa carried desert dust to Turkey's west first, before moving to the east this week, sometimes in the form of strong storms and/or gusts of wind. A reddish brown layer covered cities from Denizli in the west to Mardin in the southeast last week and early this week, with the dust pattern expected to vanish by midweek.

Data from the Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change based on daily measurements of air quality at its National Air Quality Observation Network show a dramatic increase in parameters indicating the drop in quality. Along with three central provinces, Hatay in the south is classified as having "bad" air with 200 to 300 micrograms of particles per cubic meter while Amasya and Rize in the north and Niğde and Aksaray in central Turkey have "unhealthy" air. Other provinces are classified as "sensitive" in terms of air quality while only Turkey's western regions, especially those near the coasts, and a few provinces in the east have "good" air.

Professor Şermin Tağıl, a geography expert from Bakırçay University in the western province of Izmir, says Sahara dust is be here to stay, though intermittently, throughout April. "Dust from dried lake basins in Africa and from other sources in the continent joined a global weather system due to strong winds," she told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday. Tağıl said increasing desertification in Africa contributed to a rise in the strength of winds and, combined with lower humidity and loss of vegetation, the dust was becoming more and more prevalent. "The dusty weather is particularly risky for people suffering from chronic lung diseases or asthma," she warned.