Satellite images taken on June 25, 2020, show large amounts of dust leaving West Africa and heading across the Atlantic to South America and the Gulf of Mexico. Nasa
Satellite images taken on June 25, 2020, show large amounts of dust leaving West Africa and heading across the Atlantic to South America and the Gulf of Mexico. Nasa
Satellite images taken on June 25, 2020, show large amounts of dust leaving West Africa and heading across the Atlantic to South America and the Gulf of Mexico. Nasa
Satellite images taken on June 25, 2020, show large amounts of dust leaving West Africa and heading across the Atlantic to South America and the Gulf of Mexico. Nasa

Abu Dhabi scientists find unexpected link between 'Godzilla' dust storm and Arctic ice


Daniel Bardsley
  • English
  • Arabic

Scientists in Abu Dhabi found that the mammoth 'Godzilla' dust storm that blew to the US from the Sahara in June may have been caused by lower ice levels in the Arctic.

Their research indicates that climate change may be having unexpected consequences for global weather patterns that extend well beyond temperature increases.

Godzilla was caused by thousands of tonnes of sand from the Sahara being lifted several kilometres into the sky before being blown westward across the Atlantic.

The storm blanketed major US cities such as Houston, Texas, with clouds of dust, much of which came from Mauritania, Mali and Niger at the southern edge of the Sahara.

In their paper, published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers suggest that the low level of Arctic sea ice cover – which was at its least extent for decades in June this year – may have contributed to the conditions that caused Godzilla.

Arctic sea ice influences weather circulation around the world, said Dr Diana Francis, a senior scientist at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, and the paper's first author.

Khalifa University professor Diana Francis led the study. Victor Besa / The National
Khalifa University professor Diana Francis led the study. Victor Besa / The National

“Losing polar ice changes the temperature gradient between high latitudes and the tropics/subtropics, which is then translated into changes in the atmospheric circulation that, in turn, can be manifested in extreme events such as the Godzilla dust storm,” she said.

“In my view, it is not just by coincidence that the Arctic sea ice extent was the lowest on record in June 2020 and the most intense dust storm from the Sahara occurred also in June 2020. But more investigation is needed to establish the exact link.”

Godzilla resulted from a large-scale weather anomaly involving unusually strong north-easterly winds over the Sahara.

These winds were created because of a pressure gradient between a subtropical high off Africa's west coast and the monsoon low-pressure area and whipped up vast quantities of dust for days on end.

The scale and thickness of the huge plumes meant they were visible from space as they moved westward over the Atlantic before making landfall – and headlines – in the Caribbean and the US.

"The interconnections between weather patterns around the globe is well illustrated by the June event," Dr Francis said.

“The atmosphere is an efficient means by which changes in the climate over a certain region can [affect] another region in a very short period of time – in the order of a few days.”

Levels of Arctic sea ice have decreased by more than half in the past 40 years. EPA
Levels of Arctic sea ice have decreased by more than half in the past 40 years. EPA

Levels of Arctic sea ice have dropped by more than half in the past four decades and continue to drop by more than 10 per cent a year.

Because of the effects of Arctic sea ice, the scientists predict that severe dust storms could become more frequent.

“If such patterns become more common in a warmer world, it is plausible that these extreme dust outbreaks will increase in frequency in the future,” the researchers wrote.

While the latest work focuses on a dust storm in the US, previous research indicated that warming in the Arctic could be influencing sand storms in the UAE and other parts of the Gulf. Such events could become more common in this region too.

In a study last year, Dr Francis, along with other researchers, suggested severe dust storms in the Arabian Peninsula in September 2015 were linked to a warmer Arctic and changes in the circulation of the polar jet stream, a powerful wind pattern in the upper atmosphere.

"The frequency of extreme events in the Gulf region may increase in the future based on what we have seen in the past two decades and if the projected increase in desertification in the region is not mitigated by human-made initiatives such as planting trees and increasing vegetation cover," Dr Francis said.

In previous studies, some carried out while Dr Francis was at New York University Abu Dhabi, she and her colleagues identified other alterations in global circulation patterns resulting from a changing Arctic climate.

For example, as well as being blown to the US, sand from the Sahara gets transported to the Arctic itself and, because of climate change, is now travelling there by a more direct route.

Once there, as previously reported in The National, it can increase the absorption of sunlight, leading to greater melting of ice, which has consequences for the global climate.

The latest research was also authored by Khalifa University researchers Dr Ricardo Fonseca, Dr Narendra Nelli and Michael Weston, along with scientists in France and the US.

 

 

Rankings

ATP: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,955 pts; 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,320; 3. Alexander Zverev (GER) 6,475 ( 1); 5. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 5,060 ( 1); 6. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4,845 ( 1); 6. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,600 (-3); 7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,110 ( 2); 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,960; 9. John Isner (USA) 3,155 ( 1); 10. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3,140 (-3)

WTA: 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7,030 pts ( 3); 2. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6,290 ( 4); 3. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,582 (-2); 4. Sloane Stephens (USA) 5,307 ( 1); 5. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,100 ( 3); 6. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,965 (-4); 7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4,940; 8. Kiki Bertens (NED) 4,430 ( 1); 9. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 3,566 (-6); 10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,485 ( 1)

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Family reunited

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.

She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.

She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.

The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.

She was held in her native country a year later.

The biog

Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza

Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine 

France is her favourite country to visit

Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family

Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter

Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country

The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns

Her motto is to never stop working for the country

'Gold'

Director:Anthony Hayes

Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes

Rating:3/5

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800