For the first time, a NASA satellite has quantified in three dimensions how much dust makes the trans-Atlantic journey from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon rainforest. Among this dust is phosphorus, an essential nutrient that acts like a fertilizer, which the Amazon dep
Disturbances such as large thunderstorm complexes or simply strong trade winds over North Africa periodically result in vast dust and sand storms, some of which extend as high as 6 000 meters. These can be driven out to sea within the Saharan Air Layer
At least nine people were killed in and around New Delhi, India, when a massive thunderstorm brought down trees and cut off power on May 30, 2014. Most of the deaths were caused by the falling trees or collapsing walls.A massive thunderstorm backed by dry 
Massive sandstorm in northwest China is transporting large sand deposits from Taklimakan Desert in western China and the Gobi desert in the east, through Gansu Province and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. A very large front is moving eastward across Asia,…
Reykjavík and other parts of Iceland recorded 40 times the upper safe limit of pollution levels on February 19/20, 2014. The pollution levels haven't been so high since the last volcanic eruptions in 2010-2011. However, this time it is not ash that
A cold front has sent temperatures plummeting in most northeastern Chinese provinces, causing fog and haze to linger across the region. Agricultural fires in the region in the fall, following the harvest, also influenced levels of smog. Since
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO's agency specialized for cancer, announced on October 16, 2013 that it has classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). The world’s leading experts
In its annual report on European air quality (Air quality in Europe – 2013 report) released on October 16, 2013, The European Environment Agency (EAA) raised concern over Particulate matter (PM), which is microscopic specks of dust and soot caused by
NOAA's satellites have detected a plume of dust moving off the coast of Africa. The Saharan Air Layer has a relatively constrained area of high concentration. This animation bellow, released by NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory, uses a recently enhanced
Smoke lofted above the part of the atmosphere closest to the ground (the boundary layer), where topography has a significant impact on winds, is spreading farther than smoke that remains trapped near the surface. Intense fires in Canada produced
