Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • Home
  • About
    • About >
      • Staff & Supervisors >
        • Supervisor- Nominee Info Sheets
    • Donate/Affiliate Membership
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Newsletter >
      • News articles
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Strategic Plan
    • Contractor List
  • Programs & Services
    • Ag Stewardship/INfield Advantage >
      • Agriculture Resources
    • Drainage
    • Financial Assistance/Cost Share Programs
    • Invasive Species >
      • Invasive Trade In Program
      • Hamilton County Invasives Partnership
    • Map Resources
    • Native Plant Sale
    • Native Tree Sale
    • Rain Barrel Info & Sales
    • Rule 5 Submission
    • Soil Is Alive: Soil Health Trailer
    • Soil Maps & Surveys
    • Soil Testing
    • Stony Creek Feasibility Study
    • Photo Contest
    • Well Capping
    • Well Water Testing
    • Report a Polluter
    • Tool Loan Program
    • Video Resources
  • Urban Conservation
    • Backyard Conservation
    • Conservation Playhouse
    • Urban Agriculture >
      • Donate Your Vegetables
      • Garden Resources
    • Creating and Maintaining a Prairie
    • Restoring HOA Native Landscapes
    • Stormwater Landscape Maintenance Training
    • Rain Garden Info
    • Seed pack
    • Tree Info
    • Where to buy native plants & seed
  • Events
    • Workshops & Events
    • Rain on Main
    • Sustainability Workshop
    • Past events & recordings
  • Online Store
  • Home
  • About
    • About >
      • Staff & Supervisors >
        • Supervisor- Nominee Info Sheets
    • Donate/Affiliate Membership
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Newsletter >
      • News articles
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Strategic Plan
    • Contractor List
  • Programs & Services
    • Ag Stewardship/INfield Advantage >
      • Agriculture Resources
    • Drainage
    • Financial Assistance/Cost Share Programs
    • Invasive Species >
      • Invasive Trade In Program
      • Hamilton County Invasives Partnership
    • Map Resources
    • Native Plant Sale
    • Native Tree Sale
    • Rain Barrel Info & Sales
    • Rule 5 Submission
    • Soil Is Alive: Soil Health Trailer
    • Soil Maps & Surveys
    • Soil Testing
    • Stony Creek Feasibility Study
    • Photo Contest
    • Well Capping
    • Well Water Testing
    • Report a Polluter
    • Tool Loan Program
    • Video Resources
  • Urban Conservation
    • Backyard Conservation
    • Conservation Playhouse
    • Urban Agriculture >
      • Donate Your Vegetables
      • Garden Resources
    • Creating and Maintaining a Prairie
    • Restoring HOA Native Landscapes
    • Stormwater Landscape Maintenance Training
    • Rain Garden Info
    • Seed pack
    • Tree Info
    • Where to buy native plants & seed
  • Events
    • Workshops & Events
    • Rain on Main
    • Sustainability Workshop
    • Past events & recordings
  • Online Store

Hamilton County SWCD News

News article homepage

Saharan Dust: Great for Soil, Bad for Oceans

6/30/2020

 
​Taylor Wilson, Conservation Technician and Outreach Assistant

You may have heard about the Saharan dust storms that blew across the country in the last few weeks. Believe it or not, this is a common phenomenon that happens yearly at some degree. This year, however, is the most dust we’ve had in 50-60 years. This type of dust storm can look like haze, loss of long distant visibility, milky skies, or a fine dust covering cars and homes especially after it rains.   

​The yearly dust storms are a part of a natural phenomenon that connects two polar opposite ecosystems: the Saharan desert to the Amazon rainforest. 

​
How does this work?
Picture
Milky L.A. skies courtesy of Christopher Bannan on Twitter
1. In the Saharan summer the sun warms the sand, which warms the air near the surface.

2. This hot air
 rises and brings small particles of Saharan soil with it.
​
3. As the hot, dusty 
air rises it joins in with the strong prevailing easterly winds and blows across the Atlantic to South America and the Gulf of Mexico. 

​
Saharan soil is full of iron and phosphorus. These minerals act as a fertilizer in the Amazon, replenishing the minerals that are often leached out of soils by the frequent rains. Think of it this way: when you have a big year in your garden you have to replenish the nutrients lost in the soil. The Amazon needs the same thing. ​
Picture
Fish kill caused by algal blooms. Photo from arcgis.com
​​The issue with this comes from the deposit of phosphorus laden soil (dust) into bodies of water. This is especially a problem in the Gulf of Mexico. The gulf already experiences an abundance of phosphorus each year from agricultural runoff. Too much phosphorus can cause algal blooms (red tides), fish kills, and a myriad of other ecological issues. While Saharan dust storms are a natural event that deposit dust into the gulf every year, in conjunction with the algae issues already present from human activities water quality becomes a major problem.

Since the 2020 dust storm is so large, 
fish kills and water quality may be worse this year. In 2018 the algal blooms were worse than normal, and it was speculated that Saharan dust may be the culprit. Looking at the graph below, you can see that 2018 had a larger than average dust storm. Time will tell how the gulf is impacted in 2020.
​
As the dust deposits over parts of the United States this year we may experience a variety of impacts in soil and water quality. These likely won’t be large enough to visualize an impact and there’s nothing we can do to control it. What you can do is enjoy the beautiful sunsets caused by light scattering dust particles, stay indoors if you experience respiratory issues, and continue to protect our soil and water resources where we can control impacts.  

​​Want to see more?

Visit EarthWindMap and set the Mode to Particulate. This shows you how the dust is moving in real time.  

For more information, visit the links below. 
  • NASA's webpage on Saharan dust
  • The Atlantic's Article on Saharan dust
Picture
Graph showing the AOD, a measure of dust, of storms in different years.

Comments are closed.

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    March 2023
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019

    Categories

    All
    Canada Thistle
    Crop Diversity
    Garden Tower
    Hamilton SWCD
    Indiana
    Invasive Species
    Karner Blue
    Lupinus Perennis
    Native Plants
    Pet Safety
    Soil Health
    Soil Testing
    Urban Conservation
    Urban Gardening
    Water Quality
    White River
    Wild Lupine

    RSS Feed

Your SWCD

​About
​Services
Newsletter
Affiliate Membership
Contact Us

soil.water@hamiltoncounty.in.gov
317.773.2181
1717 Pleasant St. Suite 100
Noblesville, IN 46060
Established in 1968
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photo used under Creative Commons from andurache