Red-orange Sahara dust coats Spain, makes it hard to breathe

Barcelona, ​​March 16 / BNA / Hot air coming from the Sahara desert over the Mediterranean Sea and enveloped Spain in red-orange dust, prompting the authorities to issue warnings about the very poor air quality for Madrid and a wide area of ​​the country.

The National Air Quality Index listed the capital and large parts of the southeast coast as “extremely unfavorable” – its worst rating.

The Spanish Meteorological Service described the dust storm from the Sahara as “extremely unusual and severe”, adding that it was unclear if it was the worst episode of its kind ever. The Spanish Meteorological Service has forecast that dust will continue to accumulate until Wednesday and may reach as far north as the Netherlands and northwest Germany.

On Tuesday, the dust storm spread to neighboring Portugal.

Many Spaniards woke up to a layer of red-orange dust covering their balconies, streets and cars. The sky in the capital and other cities had a gritty streak. The meteorological agency reported that visibility in Madrid and cities such as Granada and Leon had been reduced to 2.5 miles (four kilometres).

In Malaga, on the southern coast, dust mixed with rain in the air before it descended.

“It was as if it was raining mud,” said Alvaro Lopez, a student at the University of Malaga. “I was in the car this morning and the mud was literally falling.”

Emergency authorities in the worst areas have recommended that residents use face masks, still widely used during the pandemic, if they go out and avoid outdoor exercise.

The hot air wave also affected air quality north of Madrid, as far west as the Spanish Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where these events are more frequent, and in the Spanish Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.

The hot air mass from Africa, brought in by a storm that dumped some much-needed rain in drought-stricken Spain, also pushed temperatures in some areas as high as 20 Celsius (68 Fahrenheit), the meteorological service said.

Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for the Spanish Weather Service, said that while it was not clear if climate change had a direct link to this incident, the expansion of the Sahara Desert over the past century has increased the likelihood of larger dust storms in Europe.

He also said that increasingly turbulent weather patterns linked to climate change could play a role.

“There are many concerns about the impact of climate change on the patterns of frequency and intensity of storms that favor dust in our country,” Del Campo said.

HF