Marshall Shepherd, the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was quoted in Africa Times about the recent media attention regarding African dust.
African dust has contributed to many of the recent weather problems, including the yellow-tinged skies of Portugal during the recent Iberian Peninsula heat wave and the suppression of storms in the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season. Saharan dust is transported to Amazonia, North America, Europe, the Middle East and China, according to a 2016 global assessment from the World Meteorological Organization. There are concerns about the links between Saharan dust and human respiratory problems, coral diseases and even the red tides.
“It will be important going forward to understand this mega-dust generating region because the dust plays a role in the Earth’s climate and even meteorological processes,” said Shepherd, who is the director of UGA’s atmospheric sciences program.