The high level air pollution over the last two days is due to a dust storm that has been hanging over North Africa, said Ahmed Abul Souud, head of the Central Department for Air Quality at the Ministry of State for Environment Affairs. It was commonly believed that the poor air quality was due to the so-called black cloud, a haze that appears over Cairo annually at the time when rice farmers in the Delta burn their agricultural waste. The storm originated in Chad to the south of Libya and moved northeastward where it blanketed Egypt on Saturday through Sunday, Abul Souud said. The hot winds increased temperature above normal levels for that time of the year. Abul Souud used a map showing the winds' path as they blew from the southwest and headed toward the Western Desert. Smoke resulting from burning rice husks usually blows in from the north, and this proves, he continues, that the thick fog that has covered Egypt was not caused by the notorious black cloud. The wind is expected to abate soon, as it moves away from Cairo, he added. The practice of burning rice husks continues, however, and does often results in a black cloud. Meanwhile, Dr. Gamal Shaaban, head of the Critical Cases Unit of the Ministry of Health, warned that air pollution in the Greater Cairo area could lead to pneumonia and heart diseases. Shaaban said that rice husks are not to blame for the black cloud, but rather exhaust fumes from cars. He added that the best evidence of the exhaust problems is Cairo's high rates of chest infections and heart disease. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
