A sinister orange glow. It is the second day that, in Spain, a layer of reddish dust covers the ground, houses and cars, and filters the sunlight. It is the effect of the “calima”, an atmospheric phenomenon that usually affects the Canaries, and is caused by the arrival of large quantities of Sahara dust dust in the atmosphere. The air becomes dry and stuffy and visibility is reduced. This time the desert dust has blown up to the Swiss Alps and Great Britain: it is as if between the ground and the sky there was a sepia-colored filter, which colors every surface a gray-orange.
Second Copernicusthe European program for Earth observation, it is about an “exceptional episode”: Sahara dust that arrived in Europe has “very high concentrations of coarse particulate matter”. To the New York Times, scientist Mark Parrington explained that it was not unusual for the wind to lift sand in the Sahara in February and March and carry it to South America. There were traces of red dust last year too, in Great Britain. But, generally, it’s not as obvious as it is this week.
The calima, this time, was stronger because “the weather models are in the right configuration to bring it directly to Europe”. Spain is separated from Morocco only by the Strait of Gibraltar: it is not unusual for it to be reached by the sand of the Sahara. But, according to meteorological experts, it is extremely rare that calima arriveswith this intensity, in Madrid and other parts of the Central or northern Spain.
In the next few days, the dust should move across Europe and head north, reaching Denmarkbefore dissolving by the weekend.
Some studies, according to Copernicusprovide that the climate change it will cause even more intense Saharan dust storms in the future. Which they will be able to worsen air qualityaffect the frequency of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean and accelerate the melting of glaciers.
Other stories of Vanity Fair that might interest you:
Gelicidio and calabrosa, or the new lexicon of the weather
It’s snowing in Milan: the best photos on Instagram
Snow in the Sahara, the spectacle of the whitewashed desert
Source: Vanity Fair
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