Dust | Common News Update

Apr152023 by adminNo Comments

Yellow dust: Sandstorms bring misery from China to South Korea

Science

NEWS1By Yuna Ku, Joel Guinto and Fan Wangin Seoul and SingaporeFrom his high rise office window, Erling Thompson watches the Seoul skyline fade into a yellow-grey cloud as fine dust from sandstorms in China blankets South Korea.On the streets below, people wear face masks and hooded jackets to ride out another dust-covered day that is no less miserable and unhealthy, even if it is expected at this time of the year.Yellow dust is a seasonal ordeal for millions in North Asia, as sandstorms from the Gobi desert that borders China and Mongolia ride springtime winds to reach the Korean peninsula and this year, farther east to Japan.It aggravates air pollution and puts people at greater risk of respiratory disease as the particles are small enough to be inhaled into the lungs. "You don't feel ha...

Mar152021 by adminNo Comments

Etna: Life beneath the volcanic dust of repeated eruptions

Science

Getty ImagesIrene Corsaro will never forget her first driving lesson under a rain of black ash from Mount Etna. Like many Sicilians from Catania, the 18-year-old has learnt quickly how to make her way home on a road covered in volcanic dust during one of the volcano's 11 eruptions in the past three weeks. A 12th eruption was under way on Friday.Every so often, the volcano's four main craters awake with intense, simultaneous blasts. These episodes create a spectacular natural firework display, replete with bubbles, fountains and flows of lava. Within minutes, neighbouring towns and villages are showered with flakes of ash and other debris.'Lava falling on my roof'Irene's trip with her mother through the deserted streets of her home town of Nicolosi, on Etna's slopes, turned into a nightmare...

Jan62021 by adminNo Comments

Global warming to keep driving winds poleward, deep sea dust suggests

Science

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- New analysis of dust grains dredged from the bottom of the North Pacific suggests the westerlies moved toward the poles during the warmest stretches of the Pliocene, between 3 and 5 million years ago. Scientists on Wednesday published their findings in the journal Nature. Advertisement The westerlies, sometimes called the anti-trades, are a series of prevailing winds blowing from west to east across the middle latitudes. Over the last several decades, scientists have noticed the winds slowly migrating away from the equator, inching into higher and higher latitudes. "Much of the work that has been done in describing changes to the westerlies over the last several decades suggests that warming caused by greenhouse gases may be a major contributor to this movement of the wes...

Oct132020 by adminNo Comments

Rising atmospheric dust across the Great Plains recalls lead up to the Dust Bowl

Science

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Atmospheric dust levels are rising 5 percent per year across the Great Plains, according to a new survey by scientists at the University of Utah. The research, published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, increased cropland conversion and expanded growing seasons are exposing more and more soil and wind erosion. Advertisement Authors of the new study suggest the phenomenon, if combined with drier climate conditions as a result of climate change, could yield conditions comparable to the Dust Bowl, the series of droughts and dust storms that devastated the Midwest during the 1930s. "We can't make changes to the earth surface without some kind of consequence just as we can't burn fossil fuels without consequences," lead study author Andy Lambert said in a...

Jun92020 by adminNo Comments

Airborne dust makes faraway planets more habitable

Science

June 9 (UPI) -- The presence of airborne dust on alien planets increases the odds of habitability, according to new research. The findings could help planetary scientists hone in on exoplanets most likely to host alien life. The habitability of a rocky planet depends on its ability to host liquid water. The planet can't be too cold, or water will remain perpetually frozen. If the planet is too hot, all the water will boil away. The type of host star and how far away a planet is from it determines the range of temperatures on the planet's surface. Advertisement New planetary models developed by scientists at the University of Exeter, the Met Office and the University of East Anglia showed that the presence of dust can also influence surface temperatures. Scientists detailed their findings ...