It comes with some dry air, which keeps tropical disturbances away by sucking up moisture, and can sometimes help create colorful sunsets.
Some people also think that the high-flying dust — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls it the "Saharan Air Layer," and it can exist as high as 20,000-feet above the sea — might contribute to red tide.
Some of the dust settles on land, but it also lands in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Since the dust comes from a dry lake bed in Africa, it carries nutrients created from the remains of all the dried-up lake creatures that once called the lake home.
Florida Man fanboy Craig Pittman wrote that the dust particles usually help build Caribbean beaches and fertilize the Amazon rainforest. It can also feed phytoplankton and red tide blooms.
"It’s possible,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute scientist told Pittman. "It is a nutrient source."
“… plumes of African dust coming over from the Sahara desert… puts just enough iron into the water, to allow these organisms to bloom,” Dr. Mark Luther, an associate professor at USF’s College of Marine Science, told WFLA.
Isn't there a Toto song about this?
#GOESEast is seeing a large plume of Saharan #dust over the tropical Atlantic. The dry air will put a lid on any #hurricane and tropical storm activity for the time being. Track the Saharan Air Layer by satellite in real time: https://t.co/P1F11zXUHI pic.twitter.com/wpEzXQMn7c
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) June 26, 2018
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This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 4, 2019.