File:Dust storms in southwest Asia (MODIS 2015-12-19).jpg

English: Strong winds lifted dust from Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in early December 2015, and pushed streamers of dust and sand southward across the Gulf of Oman. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA�s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of the dust storm on December 10.

Most of the dust appears to rise from the area once known as the Hamoun wetlands. The wetlands lie in south-western Afghanistan and south-eastern Iran. The lakes once stretching across this region once covered 500,000 hectares of land, 40% of which lies in Afghanistan. Satellite imagery showed substantial water remaining in the lakes as recently as 2005, although they had already begun to shrink from historic maximum. By 2013, however, little water remained. The shrinking of the Hamoun wetlands has been attributed both to severe drought across the region as well as increasing demand of water resources.

Once a thriving oasis for people, agriculture, fishing and an important site for number of animal and avian species, today the wetlands have become parched and poor, and are primarily a source of dust. Efforts are being made for restoration of at least part of the wetlands, as encouraged by the United Nations Development Programme.