The impacts of dust season are on Bloomberg Green’s radar today.
(Bloomberg) —
You may have heard of snow season, the rainy season and even hurricane season, but across the Atlantic Ocean right now it’s dust season.
In June and July the winds across Africa sweep across the Sahara Desert sending swirling clouds of dust across the Atlantic toward the Caribbean Sea, Mexico and the Gulf Coast of the US. It’s possible to see the beige smear crossing the ocean and even pushing into the Pacific in satellite photos. NASA estimates that 100 million tons of dust gets lifted by the wind and sent around the globe.Like the smoke that has drifted into the US from Canadian forest fires in recent weeks, Saharan dust can be inhaled and enter the blood stream triggering asthma attacks and “aggravating other respiratory conditions,’’ according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The dust isn’t all bad. It contains iron and other minerals that provide a natural fertilizer for plants and phytoplankton and helps boost nutrient poor soils in the Amazon rain forest, according NASA. And it can put the Atlantic hurricane season on pause.The Atlantic has spun up four storms in 2023, three of which were named. Two, Bret and Cindy, raised the eyebrows of scientists and forecasters when they emerged in the central Atlantic last month, which actually had less dust than the typical June. Usually storms don’t form in that part of the ocean until later in the year and many found that worrisome.
Those worries have been put on hold, however, thanks to the dust, or rather the dry air that travels along with it. According to computer-forecast models the snooze button has been hit in the Atlantic. The next 10 days should be pretty quiet, said Phil Klotzbach, lead author of Colorado State University’s seasonal hurricane forecast.In the weather world, all things must come to an end and so it is with the season of dust. By mid-August the dry air and beige clouds will start to taper off, whichis when the Atlantic typically spins up its most ferocious storms.
In other weather news:
US Northeast: The flooding across the Northeast that left one woman dead in New York, closed rail lines and devastated Vermont could bring as much as $5 billion in losses, according to one estimate.
Heat: A record-breaking heat wave is about to send temperatures soaring from California to the Gulf of Mexico, posing health risks and straining power grids for days to come.
Mexico: Temperatures are expected to rise to as much as 120F in the Southwest, with heat watches and warnings in place across most of the South.
Europe: Heat is blanketing Europe from Germany to the Balkans, putting pressure on the region’s energy and transport systems as rivers such as the Rhine and Rhone are impacted.
India: Several hydropower plants in India’s northern Himachal Pradesh state have suspended operations due to flooding and high silt levels as the country gets drenched by torrential rains.
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