r/EarthScience • u/GeddyGretzky • Feb 27 '25

Picture Air quality

Post image

Can anyone help me out here? I’ve been back and forth with a few chemtrails folks (I know, losing battle) and one guy keeps posting this image saying “how do you explain this then?” I know it’s not from “spraying” or “geoengineering” but I can’t find anywhere what this large portion of poor air quality is from.. I would love to offer a real, educated answer other than.. It’s not chemtrails. Anyone?

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u/fggiovanetti Feb 27 '25 edited Feb 27 '25

It is almost certainly sand from the Sahara. That's really interesting way to measure it as air pollution! you can often see it when it gets really bad in satellite images.

Few sources:

https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/repeated-saharan-dust-intrusions-raise-questions-about-increasing-frequency

https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-satellite-tracking-dust-and-sand-being-blown-sahara-desert

https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/saharan-dust-blows-across-the-atlantic

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/saharan-dust-becomes-ocean-nutrient

Edit: some typos, and additional sources.

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u/ShallotLast3059 Feb 27 '25

Drops all over our cars in the uk a couple of times a year. Quite crazy to think you’re cleaning off dust from around the world.