Tiny dust particles from Asian deserts common over western United States

[Guest guest]

http://www.physorg.com/news116736776.html

Fischer found that in years with large Asian dust storms there was an

increase in particles of 2.5 microns or less in the air over the

western United States. Particles that small can be inhaled more deeply

into the lungs and so are a greater health concern.

[Guest guest]

From what Ive read the levels of some kinds of dust have been

increasing fairly rapidly.

This (below link) looks like an interesting paper on the dramatic

increase of levels of one particular kind of dust, alumosilicate dust

in the 20th century. Its about Southern Hemisphere dust but the same

thing is happening in the Northern Hemisphere and figures for that are

also given. Its linked to increased temperatures. The dust also causes

algal blooms in the oceans due to increased amounts of iron suspended

in the water that originates in the dust. The differences in Earth's

reflectivity caused by the algae may be also having an effect on

climate, they say.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1851562

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 April 3; 104(14): 5743–5748.

20th-Century doubling in dust archived in an Antarctic Peninsula ice

core parallels climate change and desertification in South America

ph R. McConnell, Alberto J. Aristarain, J. Banta, P. Ross

, and Jefferson C. Simões

They get these numbers by analyzing ice cores taken from ice caps in

the polar regions, as well as glaciers on mountain ranges.

These core records tell scientists a lot. Obviously, they go back a

very long time.

Thanks for posting that! I hear that the dust in the air in Northern

China is absolutely terrible at some times, it blocks out the sun. One

can't help but pray that we will figure out a way to stop this

process, which I think is linked to nonsustainable land use policies.

In developed countries, typically there is a dramatic fall off in

birthrates as family planning becomes available. Looking ahead into

the future, computer simulations of population growth indicate that

there's a good probability that the total population of Earth will

stabilize around the middle of the 21st century and then begin to

fall. At the same time the rate at which new technology is developed

is increasing exponentially, Small decreases in the rates of increase

in technology development in some developed countries that have mature

economies are significant but what seems especially encouraging is a

substantial growth of learning and innovation in the developing world,

which I think the Internet has been instrumental in achieving.

So, and this is I think an amazing realization, IF - if we can survive

the next 50 years without a war that decimates humanity - which

involves our solving problems with science and the sharing of new

technologies, we could conceivably begin to see a light at the end of

the tunnel - something we have never seen before, a world without

poverty. But that is going to take a global effort.

We should do everything we can to try to address problems like

desertification. This issue is clearly one of the five or six big

issues that could make or break humanitys future.

Things like new crops with increased yields have made the overall

standard of life in the developing world better. But it will all be

for naught if increased temperatures end up drying out rivers and huge

areas have to start desalinating water, which takes a lot of energy.

Without new, as yet unrealized/undiscovered sources of energy or

tools, It would not be economically feasible.

Desertification has a place in human history as being an indicator of

civilization collapse. Huge areas of Earth (The Sahara, the Arabian

Peninsula) were much wetter in the past, and changed rapidly - just

before the very beginning of written history but the archaeological

record is there. Long periods of agricultural use came to an abrupt

end.

There are also a lot of interesting ruins in the American Southwest

showing how cultures are often effected dramatically by climate

change.

>

> http://www.physorg.com/news116736776.html

>

> Fischer found that in years with large Asian dust storms there was an

> increase in particles of 2.5 microns or less in the air over the

> western United States. Particles that small can be inhaled more deeply

> into the lungs and so are a greater health concern.

>