Asian Dust Over the Eastern US
April 30, 2001
Provided by: NASA
Summary authors & editors: Jim Foster
This SeaWiFS satellite image confirms that dust from storms originating in eastern Asia earlier this month, has made it all the way to the US Atlantic seaboard. The blurry quality to the image is a result of the airborne dust. As early as 1998, scientists were claiming that industrial pollution from China was spreading to the United States - the current dust storm proves these claims to be true. The particulates in dust clouds reduce visibility and can cause respiratory problems. Particulate levels this high have not been measured over the eastern US, in such high volumes, since Mt. St. Helens erupted almost 21 years ago, and even then, particualtes did not reach the ground in levels currently observed.
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