Dust storms 'give nutrients to rainforest'

Dust storms of the size seen in Australia last week are leading to the global spread of certain types of airborne viruses, it has been reported.

Dust storms vital to Brazilian rainforest

However, the storms could also help to absorb climate change emissions, it has been noted.

As well as this, the upper layers of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil get much of their nutrients from dust which is blown across the Atlantic Sea from the Sahara Desert, making such natural events vital to the health of the rainforest.

A study published in Environmental Research Letters in 2007 revealed that dust winds from an area north-east of Lake Chad are the main mineral source for parts of the Amazon.

The kind of dust storms which have been hitting much of eastern Australia have also been seen in countries which have very dry areas and an arid climate, such as Iraq, east Africa, northern China and Iran.

Speaking to the Guardian, geography professor at Oxford University Andrew Goudie said that the frequency of such storms often go up and down.

"At the moment they are clearly on an upward trajectory," he noted.

Written by Kimberley Homer.
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