• Severe sandstorm hits United Arab Emirates

    United Arab Emirates (UAE) was hit by a severe sandstorm on March 10 and 11, 2015.Rainfall is also expected today and tomorrow across parts of the UAE, with the wet weather blowing in fresh winds that will raise dust and sand over open areas and reduce visibility, Emira

  • Persistent dust storms across the Arabian Peninsula

    In late February 2015, a significant winter storm stirred up dust and sand across much of the Arabian Peninsula. The low-pressure system energized strong northwest winds that carried dust from as far as northern Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait to the shores of the Persia

  • Massive sandstorm hits northwest China

    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,…

  • Changing climate: How dust changed the face of the Earth

    In spring 2010, the research icebreaker Polarstern returned from the South Pacific with a scientific treasure – ocean sediments from a previously almost unexplored part of the South Polar Sea. What looks like an inconspicuous sample of mud to a layman is, to geological

  • Dust across the Mediterranean Sea

    A cloudbank stretched across the Mediterranean Sea from northern Algeria to southern France for the last few days. Saharan dust streaked the clouds, extending hundreds of kilometers from southeast to northwest. One especially noticeable dust plume passed over the

  • Dust storm worsen air pollution problems in China

    The dust plumes originated from the Gobi Desert arose along the China-Mongolia border on March 8, 2013. Arising along the border between China and southwestern Mongolia, the dust extended as far south as the Sichuan Basin and continued to blow for several

  • Dust plumes from Sahara over Mediterranean Sea

    A plume of Saharan dust, extending roughly 1,110 kilometers (700 miles), spanned the Mediterranean Sea in late January 2013. A swath of dust blows northward from the Sahara Desert in Libya, over the Gulf of Sidra, past the western end of the Jebel Akhdar

  • Dust over Saudi Arabia and Red Sea

    Dust can be seen in the air over Saudi Arabia and blowing westward over the Red Sea. Unsettled weather is typical in Saudi Arabia in winter, with strong winds a frequent occurrence. The Rub’ al Khali desert, the world’s largest sand sea, covers large parts of the

  • West Africa veiled by dust and smoke

    Dust from the Bodélé Depression, in the Sahara Desert, blows southwestward towards Lake Chad, and can also be seen south of the lake. The lower portion of the image is also covered by a hazy veil, although this is due to fires in Chad and the Central African Republic