GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2021) Dust from the Sahara Desert is expected to arrive in Europe this weekend and may change the color of skies to red, the EU's Earth observation program, Copernicus, said on Friday.
In a similar event earlier this month, dust from the Sahara covered the Alps and Pyrenees and turned snow on the mountains orange.
"Dust plumes from the desert can cause red skies, limited visibility or stains on cars and windows from dust deposition, but these impacts are difficult to predict quantitatively as far as 4 or 5 days in advance," Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist at Copernicus, said in an update.
The scientist added that the dust from the Sahara Desert might negatively affect people's respiratory health.
"The high concentrations of dust can have health impacts on the respiratory systems of all people in the affected regions and add to particulate matter air pollution from local sources. Soiling by deposition of dust can also affect businesses and the general public alike," Parrington said.
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is the EU's leading Earth observation program, designed to provide current information regarding the environment, air pollution and climate change. CAMS cooperates with the European Space Agency in order to use space satellites while preparing its forecasts.
