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By South Dakota Soil Health Coalition In the past month, dust storms have been making headlines across the western United States, including South Dakota. Blowing soil has created driving hazards due to low visibility, and accumulated wind-blown silt even forced boat ramp closures near Fort Pierre. “The dust storms of the past few weeks, I've never seen them this bad,”…

By Christelle Marot It is a wall of orange sand several hundred metres high, driven by powerful gusts of wind, 50 knots on average, which can engulf and plunge a town into darkness in a few minutes. The people of Niger, Chad, Mali, Sudan, together with Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and even Texas and Arizona are familiar with this spectacular phenomenon, which meteorologists call “haboob” (“strong…

Martha Pskowski | El Paso Times High winds carrying dust across the Borderland is a common occurrence in the Chihuahua Desert. But what some might pass off as a temporary inconvenience could have long-term health consequences, a recent study found. A journal article published in "atmosphere" found a correlation between dust events and increased hospital admissions in El Paso. The…

Sand and Dust Storms (SDSs) are a major problem in West Asia, where their main characteristics – intensity, extent, and frequency – are either not well known or have not yet been scientifically addressed. The growing concern of countries in the region about these phenomena has led to a number of high-level international meetings in recent years at which the creation of a system for…

The precise causes of sand and dust storms (SDSs) are not fully known. Cloaked in mystery, SDSs are often perceived across the Gulf region as largely ungovernable natural phenomena. Since damage from SDSs is seen as inevitable, there are few attempts to divert Gulf water inland or build vegetation or walls to protect against winds. Such quietism, however, ignores the fact that anthropogenic dust…

Extraordinary sights of the sky were painted in vivid colours of yellow, orange, pink and red hues covering Europe and the UK this week! What is it? Where did it come from? What does it mean for our current climate? Professor Richard Washington teaches Climate Science at the University of Oxford and is Head of Extreme E’s Scientific Committee explains. Extreme E: Why are we seeing…