
Intense Dust Storms in Africa
In late March 2018, strong winds caused by a train of low-pressure areas appeared to fuel the flow of dust across Africa. Dust storms are quite common during the Spring in the Sahara, because the weather used to change with the seasons. However, according to several observers in the region last week’s storms were particularly strong and persistent.
Schools and airports have been shut down in many sub-Saharan countries like Sudan and Egypt, and a thick orange mist has filled the air as wind-driven sandstorms, stirred up the Sahara desert.
Copernicus Sentinels satellite captured several images over the area witnessing the intense phenomenon. Sentinel-2 in particular shows the dust storm crossing the Nile agricultural area almost like a biblical event.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Dust Storm approaching in South Africa seen from the ground. The front can reach a speed of several tens km/h.
Dust storms can of course cause breathing problems, create poor visibility, and lead to other health and safety concerns when these aerosols are concentrated near the ground. Dust storms have indeed been shown to increase the spread of disease across the globe. Virus spores in the ground are blown into the atmosphere by the storms with the small particles and interact with urban air pollution. Nevertheless when spread over long distances, the airborne dust (sometimes also called silt) can provide a natural fertiliser for plants and forests.
For instance, the dust carried from the Sahara desert has been demonstrated by scientists to provide an important amount of nutrients for the Amazon rainforest. Dust also can fertilise the oceans for phytoplankton blooms.
You may also like
Related
Written by Sardegna Clima Onlus
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Archives
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- August 2020
- July 2020
- March 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- October 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- March 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- October 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- August 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
Leave a Reply