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Articles on Dust storms

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Existing models have over-estimated the role of north Africa as the primary source of global dust emissions for nearly 30 years. GizemG/Shutterstock

Why we need to rethink what we know about dust

New research reveals our understanding of dust’s role in the environment is far from settled.
A massive dust storm billows across the western desert of Iraq on April 26, 2005. Shannon Arledge/USMC via Getty Images

Desert dust storms carry human-made toxic pollutants, and the health risk extends indoors

Desert dust storms are increasingly picking up materials like sewage, herbicides and other human-made waste and transporting them on tiny particles that are easy to inhale.
Portugal has seen little rain since October 2021. By the end of January, 45 per cent of the country was enduring ‘severe’ or ‘extreme’ drought conditions. (AP Photo/Sergio Azenha)

The window of opportunity to address increasing drought and expanding drylands is vanishing

If the world overshoots its climate targets, drought could cause dryland areas to expand by a quarter and encompass half the Earth’s land area, threatening lives and livelihoods.
Lightning during a monsoon storm in southern Arizona, Saguaro National Park. Pete Gregoire, NOAA

Monsoons make deserts bloom in the US Southwest, but climate change is making these summer rainfalls more extreme and erratic

Monsoons are weather patterns that bring thunderstorms and heavy rains to hot, dry areas when warm, moist ocean air moves inland. They’re challenging to forecast, especially in a changing climate.
Dust affect infrastructures but also human health. Here in Dakar, Senegal, on February 17, 2021, at the beginning of the Harmattan season. John Wessels/AFP

How can we mitigate the impacts of dust storms?

Dust storms are not unusual, but intense ones have a wide range negative impacts upon multiple socioeconomic sectors. How do we address them?
A thick haze has settled over Sydney, blown in from northwest of the city. Dean Lewins/AAP

What do Sydney and other cities have in common? Dust

The haze now engulfing Sydney isn’t an isolated problem. Cities around the world struggle to manage the many sources of tiny airborne particles and the discomfort and illnesses these cause.
Sahara on the move. SeaWiFS/NASA/ORBIMAGE

Explainer: how does Saharan sand end up in the UK?

Being perched off the northwest edge of Europe means that people in the UK are not often reminded of the vast Sahara desert situated only a few thousand miles to the south. This great desert is located…

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