The Sahara’s largest dust storm in 50 years has hit the US and is heading to Florida, Texas, and other states already battling the COVID-19 waves, raising new fears of respiratory problems among Americans.
The so-called ‘gorilla dust cloud’ hit the Mississippi Gulf coast on Thursday after charting its way across the Caribbean this week, where air quality fell to ‘dangerous’ levels.
The 3,500 mile long (5,600 km) cloud traveled 5,000 miles (8,047 km) from North Africa before reaching the region stretching from Florida west to Texas and north to North Carolina via Arkansas said the National Weather Service (NWS).
It will spread over the southeastern United States this weekend and through the middle of next week, enveloping the region in a brown haze and deteriorating air quality in states that are already doubled under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts warn vulnerable people to stay indoors in states like Texas and Florida, as the poor air quality caused by the dust storm, along with dizzying cases and hospitalizations of the deadly virus pose a double threat to health public.
The largest Sahara dust storm in 50 years has hit the United States and is heading to Florida, Texas and other states that are already battling the COVID-19 waves.
The so-called ‘gorilla dust cloud’ hit the Mississippi Gulf coast on Thursday after charting its way across the Caribbean this week, where air quality fell to ‘dangerous’ levels.
Strong warm winds over the Sahara desert typically lift sand at this time of year and transport it across the Atlantic to the Americas.
But the dust is denser this year than in half a century, several forecasters told Reuters.
‘It is a really dry layer of air that contains these very fine dust particles. It happens every summer, ” said NWS meteorologist Patrick Blood.
“Some of these columns contain more particles, and we are currently expecting a large column of dust on the Gulf coast.”
The dry air mass carried by the dust can suppress the formation of tropical storms and hurricanes and can enhance and brighten sunrises and sunsets, forecasters said.
The dust cloud spread across the Atlantic from Africa over the past week, covering swaths of the Caribbean such as Jamaica, Barnados and Puerto Rico on Sunday.
The dust cloud is seen over the city of Bridgetown, Barbados, on Monday
Poor visibility in Puerto Rico on weekends. The dust cloud spread across the Atlantic from Africa last week, covering swaths of the Caribbean such as Jamaica, Barnados and Puerto Rico on Sunday.
Fishermen continue to work on their boats as a cloud of dust from the Sahara desert covers the buildings of Punta Paitilla, in Panama City, Panama
San Salvador in El Salvador is covered in dust from the Sahara desert on Thursday
Usually, the blue skies turned into a milky brown haze, and the Jamaican Blue Mountains, generally seen over Kingston, were hidden behind a white cloud.
Air quality fell to “dangerous” levels and meteorologists on the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique warned that the area was experiencing its worst haze in at least a decade.
By Wednesday, much of the skies over Cuba were obscured by columns of dust and images showed little visibility in Havana.
Fishermen were photographed in Panama working on their boats as a cloud of dust from the Sahara desert covered the buildings of Punta Paitilla, in Panama City.
The dust cloud reached South Florida on Thursday and is now moving through Texas to North Carolina and Arkansas, where residents can expect poor air quality, overcast skies, and poor visibility until the middle of next week.
Fears about the health effects of the Gorilla Dust Cloud rise as it progresses through the US states where coronavirus infections were recorded at record levels in the past week.
The dry air mass transporting dust can suppress the formation of tropical storms and hurricanes and can enhance and brighten sunrises and sunsets, forecasters said, like this sunset image captured in Florida on Thursday.
Skies over Florida on Thursday. The dust cloud reached South Florida on Thursday and is now moving through Texas to North Carolina and Arkansas, where residents can expect poor air quality, overcast skies, and poor visibility until the middle of next week.
Visibility from an airplane flying over Tallahassee, Florida on Thursday
“There is emerging evidence of possible interactions between air pollution and COVID risk, so we are concerned at the moment,” said Gregory Wellenius, professor of environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health.
Air pollution can be especially damaging to people who are at risk or have cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, he added.
Heart and lung problems increase the risk of severe COVID-19.
Infections in the US have been on the rise for more than a week after declining for more than six weeks.
New cases and hospitalizations have skyrocketed to record levels in states like Arizona, Texas, California and Florida.
Texas, which was one of the first states to facilitate closure in late April, hit a record COVID-19 hospitalization Thursday for the 13th day in a row, with nearly 4,400 patients.
View of the Saharan dust cloud on a beach in Cancun, Quintana Roo state, Mexico, Thursday
Panama City is shrouded in dust, as experts warn that air pollution can be especially damaging to people who are at risk for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
In Carolina, Puerto Rico, on Tuesday, dust looms over the horizon. Air quality fell to ‘dangerous’ levels in the Caribbean
Saharan dust is seen at the Bacardi factory in Catano, Puerto Rico, on Monday.
Cancun Strong warm winds over the Sahara desert typically lift sand at this time of year and transport it across the Atlantic to the Americas.
Statewide, the number of COVID-19 patients has more than doubled in two weeks, and more than 11,000 new cases have been reported in the past two days alone.
Concerned that the state is headed for a serious health crisis, Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday that its reopening has been put on “pause.”
In Florida, new daily cases rose to 5,508 on Wednesday, a 25 percent increase from its previous record of 4,049 on June 20.
Health experts are urging residents of areas affected by the Sahara dust plume to stay indoors, fearing it may weaken the respiratory systems of people who are already at risk of contracting the virus.
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