Video presentation now available: The ‘Godzilla’ Saharan Dust Plume of June 2020

Many thanks to everyone who joined us for Yorkshire Local Centre's virtual meeting on 11 August 2020. The guest speaker was Dr Claire Ryder, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading.

For anyone who was not able to join us, or who may want to watch back, you can now view Dr Ryder’s presentation on our YouTube channel here.

The presentation was on the Saharan Dust Plume of June 2020.

During June 2020 a massive plume of Saharan dust was transported across the Atlantic to the Americas, thought to be the largest event of its kind for 50 years. Although dust is normally transported westwards from Africa during summertime in a warm, dry elevated layer known as the Saharan Air Layer, the ‘Godzilla’ June 2020 dust plume was unusually dense and widespread, resulting in many all-time dust records being broken. Impacts of the dust on air quality on Caribbean nations and several US states was severe. In this talk Claire describes the characteristics of this record-breaking event, causes of the unusual dust loadings, and impacts on health and air quality.

The video lasts approx. 1 hour.

Photo: © NASA’s Earth Observatory, A Dust Plume to Remember