Human-Initiated Climate Change Could Lead to More “Godzilla Dust Storms,” Experts Say

Would an unforgettable dust event that led to air quality degradation from the Sahara Desert to Kansas City in the US in June 2020 make a grand return soon?

According to NASA, the enormous dust plume from the Sahara spread across the Atlantic Ocean and reaching the Americas was considered the largest dust storm event in recent history. This "Godzilla dust storm" was caused by high subtropical winds and a strong, meandering easterly African jet stream.

Residents in Puerto Rico woke up to a Sun covered in haze. As the air seemed coated in reddish dust, a Science Magazine article said The phenomenon turned sunsets into fiery red in North America, with skies in sepia color across the Caribbean.

Enormous Godzilla Dust Storm Blew Record-Breaking 70-Kph Winds

The Godzilla dust storm was truly enormous. Desert winds, called harmattan, blew a record-breaking 70 kilometers per hour across northwestern Africa. Pink-tinted plume seen as big as the entire US drifted west across the Atlantic Ocean. The dust weighed about 24 million tons, which was enough to fill thousands of Olympic-sized swimming pools.

A hot and dusty atmospheric layer called the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) from the Sahara Desert would normally cross the Atlantic Ocean. Recent studies showed that global warming could be the reason why less Saharan dust passes across the atmosphere.

Strong Winds, Dry Environment, Needed to Transport Dust Across the Atmosphere

To have dust carried to the atmosphere, strong winds and a dry environment are needed. When sea surface temperatures rise across the North Atlantic Ocean, there will be a more muted temperature gradient than the South Atlantic.

Easterly Trade Winds, A Perfect Conduit for Dust Storms

Theoretically, this will cause weaker trade winds and lesser dust since easterly trade winds have been an appropriate conduit to bring tons of dust across the Atlantic Ocean annually.

Weaker trade winds could lead to a shift in the Intertropical Convergence Zone or tropical rainfall northward. As a result, this rain would act a natural suppressor for dust. Less dust would lead to more solar energy that would then initiate more warming, The Weather Network revealed in a report.

NASA forecasts a 30 percent cut in Sahara dust activity over the next decades.

Climate Change Could Cause More "Godzilla" Dust Storms

With such abundant dust intrusions, having an active 2020 hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean surprised researchers. But they arrived at explaining the troubling simultaneous phenomena as a dusty, dry environment is extremely hostile to hurricanes. The dust would then scatter sunlight away from the surface, thereby cooling the sea surface temperatures.

While the dust amounts are predicted to decline, separate studies say that an unsteady jet stream could fuel more Godzilla dust storms in the future.

A possible effect of this human-initiated climate change, experts say, could be more severe bursts of dust in the years to come.

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