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Florida‘s skies are ready to be shot Orange this week by a gigantic Saharan dust storm that crossed the Atlantic.
Dust is part of 60 million tonnes of sand and the mineral particles that are swept away every year African desert soil and pushed west across the ocean by winds.
Weather experts predict that the dust cloud is expected to arrive in the Gulf of Mexico this week and will likely reach Florida on Wednesday.
They say that when the sun is low on the horizon, its rays must pass through more of Earth’s atmosphere, creating orange, red and pink hues in the sky.
The dust is expected to stay until the weekend, according to meteorologists.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has warned that the dust cloud could impact people with respiratory or lung problems.
They advised people to close their windows, use an air purifier, wear a mask outside, and check the air quality before going out or cancel outdoor activities.
Scientists say that one of the benefits of dust is that it helps suppress the development of hurricanes and tropical storms off the coast of America.
“Saharan dust alters the regional climate by reflecting and absorbing sunlight, which lowers the sea surface temperature,” said Bowen Pan of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University. News week.
“It decreases the energy supply from storms. In addition, dust also stabilizes the atmosphere.
In 2020, the storm “Godzilla” that dumped dust over North and South America was so severe it was visible from the International Space Station.
This year’s dust storms were fueled by high winds in Mali and Mauritania, sweeping the cloud over Senegal, Gambia and Cape Verde and out into the Atlantic.
And NASA satellites using infrared imagery detected the cloud in the mid-Atlantic on June 7.
Some of the dust even reaches the Amazon region of South America, where experts say the minerals it contains, such as iron and phosphorus, act as a fertilizer.
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