• High concentrations of Saharan dust affect Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, moving west toward Florida and Texas

    ByTeo Blašković

    High concentrations of Saharan dust are affecting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on June 26, 2026, reducing visibility and air quality as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) moves west. Drier Saharan air is forecast to reach South Florida from late Saturday, June 27, followed by a dust plume over Southeast Texas late Sunday, June 28, where hazy skies and reduced air quality are possible.

  • Saharan dust on the move across Atlantic Ocean

    ByChillymanjaro

    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

  • Dangerous air pollution hit Iceland's capital

    ByChillymanjaro

    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

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

    ByTW

    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 by Senegal River and Cap-Vert Peninsula, West Africa

    ByChillymanjaro

    Dust from the Sahara Desert blows westward off the coast of West Africa. The dust is thickest around the border between Mauritania and Senegal, with plumes visible just north of the Senegal River and the Cap-Vert peninsula, extending west from the main sandy areas of

  • Dust over Saudi Arabia and Red Sea

    ByChillymanjaro

    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

  • Dust storm over Iran

    ByChillymanjaro

    A dust storm can be seen spreading over eastern Iran and western Pakistan and over Arabian Sea. The dust blows southward, over the coast of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz.

    Dust plumes captured by MODIS/Terra satellite on January 17, 2013