CANADIAN MEDIA
  • Home Page
  • World News
    • Africa
    • African-Americans
    • Asia
  • Law
    • Investigative Law
    • National Law/Justice
    • Global Law & Crime prevention
  • Politics
    • Global Politics
    • African-American Politics
    • US Politics
    • National Politics >
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Quebec
      • Calgary
      • Edmonton
      • Manitoba
      • Ontario
      • Saskatchevan
  • Business
    • Developing countries
    • Global Business >
      • Global Economic Development
    • National Business >
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Manitoba
      • Ontario
  • Health
    • National Health >
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Manitoba
      • New Brunswick
      • Newfoundland & Labrador
      • North West Territories
      • Nova Scotia
      • Nunavut
      • Ontario
      • Prince Edward Island
      • Quebec
      • Saskatchevan
      • Yukon
    • Global Health
  • Life
    • Arts/Architecture/Archeology
    • Book/Author/Movie Reviews
    • Canada-India News
    • Celebration/Observance/Recognition >
      • Global Celebration/Observances/Recognitions
      • National Celebration/Observance/Recognitions
    • Education/Culture/Festivals
    • Entertainment >
      • Intern'l Entertainment/Hollywood
      • NationalEntertainment
      • Entertainment-TIFF
      • Entertainment/Regional/Bollywood Films
    • Food/Nutrition/Agriculture
    • Interviews
    • Libraries/Museums/Archives >
      • Global Libraries/Museums/Archives
      • National Libraries/Museums/Archives >
        • Nat'l Museums PhotoStories
    • Media
    • Sports
    • Travel/Tourism
    • World Cinema
  • Earth
    • Animal issues
    • Astronomy >
      • ESA Photo Stories
      • NASA Photo Stories
      • NASA Videos
    • Biodiversity/Wild Life/Ecosystem
    • Earth Scie/Biotech/Archaeology/Agriculture
    • Environment/Climate Change/Forests
    • Fisheries & Oceans
    • Sci & Res
    • Technology & Innovation
  • Humanitarian
    • Domestic/Sexual Violence
    • FAO of UN
    • First Nations/Minority Communities
    • Gender issues >
      • National Gender Issues
      • Global Gender Issues
    • Human Rights/Child rights
    • Human Trafficking
    • Humanitarian Aid
    • Immigration/Refugees/Citizens
    • Floods/Fire/NaturalDisasters/Accidents/Deaths
    • Peace/Security/Gun Violence >
      • Global Peace/Security/Gun Violenece
      • National Peace/Security/Gun Violence
    • Pride Toronto
    • Racial diversity
    • SDGs
    • UN Affairs
    • Women rights
  • Multimedia
    • FAO Photo Stories
    • ILO Videos
    • Lib of Congress Videos
    • News in photos
    • UN Photo Stories
    • UN videos
    • UNEP videos
    • UNHCR Videos
    • Videos
    • WHO Videos
  • NASA Photo Stories

‘Historic’ Caribbean dust storm shows value of forecast services: UN weather agency

6/26/2020

0 Comments

 
#CaribbeanDustStorm; #WMO; #Sahara; 

Caribbean, Jun 26 (Canadian-Media): A massive dust storm currently blanketing many parts of the Caribbean, posing a significant threat to regional health, has revealed the importance of having effective warning systems in place, the World Meteorological Office (WMO) said on Friday, UN reports said.
Picture
A dust storm which originated in the Sahara in Africa has arrived in the Caribbean. Image credit: WMO
The storm arrived in the Eastern Caribbean from North Africa last week, affecting a wide area so far, spanning from the northern coast of South America to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Daily life affected


“Sand and dust storms are severe hazards that can affect weather, climate, the environment, health, economies, transport and agriculture in many parts of the world”, said Dr. Oksana Tarasova, Head of WMO’s Atmospheric Environment Research Division.


“The ongoing dust storm, which has affected daily life in the Caribbean, shows the importance of forecast and warning services.”

‘Hazardous’ air quality levels


Although dust blows from Africa across the Atlantic every year, the UN weather agency said this year’s event has been particularly intense and extensive.

The dust storm has darkened skies, contaminated rainwater and greatly reduced visibility. It also poses a significant health hazard.

Countries such as Martinique, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico have reported air quality levels in the “hazardous “category, with record values of PM10 – a particulate matter which can cause respiratory problems and disease.

Concentrations reported in Puerto Rico are at the highest level observed in the last 20 years.
Scientists at the University of Puerto Rico have also observed record high levels of aerosol optical thickness, or the measure of tiny solid or liquid particles in the air, such as dust, sea salt, or pollution from factories.

“This is a dust event of truly historic proportions”, said Professor Olga L. Mayol-Bracero at the University of Puerto Rico, and her counterpart, Dr. Andrea Sealy, meteorologist with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology.

Natural and man-made causes

Sand and dust storms are common in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. They are usually caused by thunderstorms, which create strong winds that can transport large amounts of sand and dust thousands of kilometres away.

Every year, around 2,000 million tons of dust enters the Earth’s atmosphere, according to WMO. While much of this occurs naturally, a large part is due to poor water and land management.

WMO on Friday released the latest edition of its annual Airborne Dust Bulletin which found that mineral dust concentrations last year generally were similar to 2018 levels.

Through its Sand and Dust Storm – Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS), the UN agency provides operational forecasting aimed at reducing impacts on the environment, health and economies.

It has regional centres providing forecasts for Asia, Northern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Environment

    All

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017

  • Home Page
  • World News
    • Africa
    • African-Americans
    • Asia
  • Law
    • Investigative Law
    • National Law/Justice
    • Global Law & Crime prevention
  • Politics
    • Global Politics
    • African-American Politics
    • US Politics
    • National Politics >
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Quebec
      • Calgary
      • Edmonton
      • Manitoba
      • Ontario
      • Saskatchevan
  • Business
    • Developing countries
    • Global Business >
      • Global Economic Development
    • National Business >
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Manitoba
      • Ontario
  • Health
    • National Health >
      • Alberta
      • British Columbia
      • Manitoba
      • New Brunswick
      • Newfoundland & Labrador
      • North West Territories
      • Nova Scotia
      • Nunavut
      • Ontario
      • Prince Edward Island
      • Quebec
      • Saskatchevan
      • Yukon
    • Global Health
  • Life
    • Arts/Architecture/Archeology
    • Book/Author/Movie Reviews
    • Canada-India News
    • Celebration/Observance/Recognition >
      • Global Celebration/Observances/Recognitions
      • National Celebration/Observance/Recognitions
    • Education/Culture/Festivals
    • Entertainment >
      • Intern'l Entertainment/Hollywood
      • NationalEntertainment
      • Entertainment-TIFF
      • Entertainment/Regional/Bollywood Films
    • Food/Nutrition/Agriculture
    • Interviews
    • Libraries/Museums/Archives >
      • Global Libraries/Museums/Archives
      • National Libraries/Museums/Archives >
        • Nat'l Museums PhotoStories
    • Media
    • Sports
    • Travel/Tourism
    • World Cinema
  • Earth
    • Animal issues
    • Astronomy >
      • ESA Photo Stories
      • NASA Photo Stories
      • NASA Videos
    • Biodiversity/Wild Life/Ecosystem
    • Earth Scie/Biotech/Archaeology/Agriculture
    • Environment/Climate Change/Forests
    • Fisheries & Oceans
    • Sci & Res
    • Technology & Innovation
  • Humanitarian
    • Domestic/Sexual Violence
    • FAO of UN
    • First Nations/Minority Communities
    • Gender issues >
      • National Gender Issues
      • Global Gender Issues
    • Human Rights/Child rights
    • Human Trafficking
    • Humanitarian Aid
    • Immigration/Refugees/Citizens
    • Floods/Fire/NaturalDisasters/Accidents/Deaths
    • Peace/Security/Gun Violence >
      • Global Peace/Security/Gun Violenece
      • National Peace/Security/Gun Violence
    • Pride Toronto
    • Racial diversity
    • SDGs
    • UN Affairs
    • Women rights
  • Multimedia
    • FAO Photo Stories
    • ILO Videos
    • Lib of Congress Videos
    • News in photos
    • UN Photo Stories
    • UN videos
    • UNEP videos
    • UNHCR Videos
    • Videos
    • WHO Videos
  • NASA Photo Stories