A new satellite from the European Space Agency recently revealed a huge plume of Saharan dust, making its way through the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean.
As specified in a Mail Online report, a wave of Saharan dust is set to strike Britain later this week, which, along with drizzle prediction on Friday, could lead to "blood rain" over portions of the United Kingdom.
The plume is anticipated to reach the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico this week, specifically on May 16 and 17, respectively, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service CAMS of ESA, which monitors dust transport from the Sahara Desert each year.
Additionally, it is predicted to hit the Iberian Peninsula and western Europe on May 20 and 21, with some of the plumes approaching the South East of England on the morning of Friday.
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Higher Than Normal Levels of Dust
According to Senior Scientist for CAMS, Mark Parrington, most of the dust transport is possible to be at higher altitudes, resulting in hazy skies instead of effects on surface air quality.
It may be mixed as well, with some more rain, which is forecast for Friday. Therefore, there could be surface deposits on cars after the rain has cleared.
This report comes after another massive plume hit western Europe in mid-March, turning skies an eerie shade of orange and covering vehicles and windows in a layer of fine red dust.
Scientists at CAMS said this year has shown and continues to exhibit higher than normal levels of dust transported through the Mediterranean and portions of Europe.
Threat to Health
Parrington explained that the dust's source in the atmosphere relies on the wind patterns over the Sahara, and this has been "driving the sources of the events" that have been monitored this year.
Essentially, dust plumes occur when strong winds whip up sand and other organic sediments from the deserts and have them sent into the troposphere, the lowest portion of the atmosphere of the Earth, BBC Gossip said in a similar report.
This is transported towards the Caribbean that follows trade winds in the spring, summer, and early autumn when the Saharan Air Layer forms, crossing the Atlantic with excessively dry, dusty air masses.
Dust clouds at surface levels bring particulate matter that worsens air quality and poses respiratory or even cardiovascular threats.
'Blood Rain'
In this circumstance, as the dust can be at higher altitudes, it is implausible to have a substantial effect on air quality at the surface, explained Parrington.
Nevertheless, a similar Business Terminal report specified that CAMS could identify excessively "high values of aerosol," which can decrease the amount of sunlight that reaches the ground.
It could also lead to "blood rain," which occurs when comparatively high concentrations of red-colored dust or particles are getting mixed into the rain, giving it a red appearance as it falls.
In March, parts of the UK were struck by a Sahara dust cloud, with vehicles across the south photographed covered in fine red dust.
Such a dust cloud had traveled up from Europe, with skies that turned orange in portions of southern Spain, where peak dust concentrations are beating previous records. The plume has reached as far as Scandinavia in the next several days.
Related information about Sahara dust is shown on Evolution Crisis's YouTube video below:
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