Dust Storms

Dust storms are a vital component of the environment. This book explores and summarises recent research on where dust storms originate, why dust storms are generated, where dust is transported and deposited, the nature of dust deposits and the changing frequency of dust storms over a range of time-scales. It is the first global study of causes and effects of dust storms, which are one of the increasing nature catastrophes.

This open access book serves as an atlas of deposited dust and dust storms in Kuwait in relation to local and global regions. It features a wealth of maps and images of dust storm trajectories in the region, together with detailed descriptions of the chemical and physical properties of fallen dust, including the amount, particle size, statistical parameters, spectra absorption, dust mineralogy, trace and major elements, organic matter, associated pollen, and radionuclides and connected pollutants. Given its scope, the book is a valuable resource for a broad range of researchers, including geologists, chemists, environmentalists, botanists, air quality specialists, nanotechnology scientists, and solar energy experts.

An incredible collection of truly breathtaking weather phenomena from the author of The Invention of Clouds, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Produced in association with the Met Office, the world’s premier weather forecasting bureau, Extraordinary Weather unearths astonishing photographs and compelling satellite imagery that reveals the otherworldly, wayward and often ambiguous nature of the weather. From the beautiful snow rollers that can form on icy rooftops to the dramatic lightshow of volcanic lightning, these powerful images—accompanied by commentary from the award-winning Richard Hamblyn—inform and explain the science behind the most extraordinary weather phenomena ever seen. Extraordinary Weather presents a beautiful and dramatic visual exhibition of the perpetually changing sky, bringing us closer to the natural world. Discover the world’s altering climate and its affects all around us, explore weather events on a larger scale through powerful satellite imagery, and learn of unusual and out of the ordinary weather phenomena considered unbelievable until you have seen them with your own eyes. Acclaimed author Richard Hamblyn celebrates both impressive natural and man-made weather wonders from frost feathers created by rime ice to wingtip vortices formed by accelerating aircraft. The six themed chapters of the book explore storms and tempests, ice and snow, heat and drought, atmospherics, strange phenomena and man-made weather revealed through some of the most visually stunning and intriguing photographs and satellite images seen yet. Praise for The Invention of Clouds “Fascinating . . . accomplishes that rare feat of changing the reader’s perception of the world.” —The Economist “Exemplary . . . [an] entertaining and luminous history of meteorology.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A young boy listens to his grandfather's story of farm life during the Dust Bowl years.

Examines the nature of dust storms, what they look like, how they occur, the damage they cause, and how people live with them.

In the mid 1930s, North America's Great Plains faced one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in world history. Donald Worster's classic chronicle of the devastating years between 1929 and 1939 tells the story of the Dust Bowl in ecological as well as human terms.Now, twenty-five years after his book helped to define the new field of environmental history, Worster shares his more recent thoughts on the subject of the land and how humans interact with it. In a new afterword, he links the Dust Bowl to current political, economic and ecological issues--including the American livestock industry's exploitation of the Great Plains, and the on-going problem of desertification, which has now become a global phenomenon. He reflects on the state of the plains today and the threat of a new dustbowl. He outlines some solutions that have been proposed, such as "the Buffalo Commons," where deer, antelope, bison and elk would once more roam freely, and suggests that we may yet witness a Great Plains where native flora and fauna flourish while applied ecologists show farmers how to raise food on land modeled after the natural prairies that once existed.

Sand and dust storms (SDS) are common in drylands with dust often transported over great distances, frequently across international boundaries. Such storms are important for ecosystem functioning, but they also create numerous hazards to society, in agriculture and other socioeconomic sectors. The yields and productivity of crops, trees, pastures and livestock are adversely affected by SDS. With climate change it is expected that droughts and land use changes will increase the frequency and risk of SDS.While agriculture is a major driver of SDS, agriculture is impacted by SDS and it is also part of the solution to combat SDS risks and mitigate their impacts. This guide aims to provide an overview of sand and dust storms and the impacts on agriculture and food systems. It gives a review of how agriculture can create SDS sources and highlights the impacts of SDS on agricultural production in source and deposition areas. It includes a range of high-impact, location- and context-specific practices to reduce SDS source and impacts on agriculture subsectors at local level, comprising technical and non-technical interventions. Moreover, it assesses how SDS risk is addressed at the policy level and discusses options for integrating SDS at national and regional levels into multi-hazard disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM) strategies or sectoral development programmes, followed by conclusions and recommendations.Urgent action must be taken now. Short-term responses need to be linked to long-term development actions to enhance combating SDS. The adverse impacts of SDS are likely to become even more severe in the future, particularly due to climate change, unless appropriate interventions are made.

This book highlights the aeolian processes in the desert zone of Kazakhstan and Central Asian Deserts, and analyzes the current status of dust and sand storms in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. It also highlights the analyses, dynamics and long-term observations of storms on the basis of numerous cartographic materials and satellite images. Dust/sand storms are a common and important phenomenon in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia as well,especially in its southern parts, where areas are covered by a great variety of deserts and offer a significant source of mineral and salt aerosols. The deserts of Kazakhstan mostly cover lowlands and extend from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea to the piedmonts of the Tien-Shan Mountain. In Kazakhstan and Central Asia desertification processes due to wind erosion in the form of dust/sand storms were observed in semi-desert and desert landscapes.