Do you Know Where the Dirt in your Backyard Came From?

The Saharan Air Layer brings several hundred million tons of dust from the Saharan Desert in Northern Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas every year.

The dust accumulates on Caribbean beaches, brings nutrients to the Amazon Rain Forest in South America, and helps suppress hurricanes in the Atlantic. The dust could also impact coral reef ecosystems or algal blooms in the Caribbean sea.

• How do particles (aerosols) get carried by the wind?
• Which aerosols are products of human activity, which are naturally occuring?
• What wind patterns do they follow?
• What causes the wind to blow in different directions?
• How could these affect plants, animals, and people?

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Atmospheric Chemistry: GEOS-5 Model

The Saharan Air Layer can be seen blowing from Northwestern Africa toward Central America.

Hurricane Season - 2017

Saharan dust can impact tropical storms such as those seen in the satellite imagery from the 2017 hurricane season.

Winds: GEOS-5 Model

The movement of these particulates would be impossible without winds to carry them.