Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The dustiest place in the world!

I remember reading about dust inputs into the Amazon during my stint in Costa Rica. Then, as now, I couldn't help but be amazed at how inter-connected things in the natural world are. A couple of recent papers on the subject of dust in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences prompted this article in Deccan Herald this week on how climate change might affect the dustiest place in the world...No, it's not in India, it's in Chad.

World's dust bowl
We already know that climate change might drastically alter landscapes around the world. Interestingly, one of the prime agents of changing ecology might be dust from deserts, and often where you least expect it.
Several studies have shown that the Sahara desert is the world’s largest source of desert dust. A mind boggling 240 ± 80 million tons of dust is transported from the Sahara desert to the Atlantic Ocean and beyond every year.

You can read the rest of the article in Deccan Herald.

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