Dust blows off Namibia over the Atlantic Ocean

Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features waves of dust blowing across the coast of Namibia and streaming out over the South Atlantic Ocean. 

In the dry desert regions of Namibia, dust storms can have a significant impact on visibility, human health, and wildlife. These storms can spread dust across large areas and even across continents, affecting global climate patterns.

According to NASA, the Namibia dust pattern is not unusual for this time of year, when “berg winds” rush down from the interior highlands. 

“By the time this image was acquired, the dust and sand had created poor visibility and hazardous driving conditions in some coastal towns, including Walvis Bay,” said NASA.

“The windy conditions were forecast to persist in coastal and interior regions for several days, with the possibility for more sandstorms, according to the Namibia Meteorological Service.”

“However, compared with Saharan dust storms that are large enough to influence hurricane formation and ultimately the weather on the opposite side of the Atlantic, the amount of dust in southern African storms is negligible.”

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on July 11. 

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory 

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