If – like millions of people around the world – you’re sensitive to dust, listen up.
The Sahara dust season has officially started. That’s the word from local weather expert Dale Destin who says the pesky particles typically make their presence known around mid-February.
The dust is blown from the Sahara across the Atlantic all year round. However, its impacts are greatest from around now, all the way through to October.
For most of us, it means little more than itchy eyes and sneezing but for a small proportion of the population, the pollutant can be serious, Destin warns, triggering allergies, along with respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
The worst dust event took place in June 2020 when air quality plummeted to very unhealthy levels, the worst in at least 50 years.
The next notable dust inundation is forecast for next week starting Sunday when air quality could fall to unhealthy levels for sensitive groups, Destin says.
The Sahara Dust is not all bad. In addition to being a hurricane blocker, weakening tropical cyclones, it has a fertilizing effect thanks to being rich in plant nutrients. It can also have a cooling effect which is particularly welcome during the hot summer months.
