A beach in the Caribbean. Drawing. - 20 minutes - Magazine

A huge cloud of fine sand and dust from the Sahara desert, carried by the winds, is currently suffocating the Caribbean, including the French Antilles, and even began to affect Florida on Wednesday, warned the American and French authorities. Air quality has deteriorated in Miami, with the city's health officials advising residents with respiratory problems to stay at home.

The trade winds are responsible for making them cross the Atlantic Ocean over several thousand km. It is a classic phenomenon. On the other hand, it is rare to see such large concentrations reaching the Caribbean Sea and reaching the Mexican coasts. https://t.co/0PUylYEd8b

- Météo-France (@meteofrance) June 22, 2020

The particle cloud is likely to pollute the air in Florida until next week, the authorities of the peninsula warned. In recent days, various islands in the Caribbean arc such as Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe or Martinique, have seen their skies darken due to this cloud. That a “mist of sand” thus crosses the Atlantic for thousands of kilometers, pushed by the trade winds, is a classic event, according to meteorologists. But this year the phenomenon has reached an intensity that has not been seen in decades.

A peak should take place this Thursday

We observe "dust zones of the Sahara on the Cuban capital, but it is tomorrow [Thursday] morning that will take place the highest concentration", estimated on Facebook the Cuban meteorologist José Rubiera. "Dr. Olga Mayol, of the University of Puerto Rico, an island heavily affected by this cloud of dust, estimates that this year, the intensity is the strongest in 50 or 60 years," he said.

This Tuesday, in Guadeloupe, in the French Antilles, the concentration of fine PM10 particles in the air greatly exceeded the alert threshold, said the prefecture of Guadeloupe in a joint press release with Gwad'Air, which controls the quality of the air. air of the territory. The prefectures of Guadeloupe and Martinique, another French territory in the West Indies, have launched "alert procedures". The phenomenon is due to a mass of hot and dry air which raises the temperatures but also blocks the formation of tropical cyclones, resulting in a high thermal sensation and less rain.

Planet

38 ° C… A new heat record in Siberia which lengthens a list of worrying signals

Politics

Ecology: The Citizen Climate Convention puts Emmanuel Macron on the wall

  • Weather forecast
  • Weather
  • World
  • United States
  • Caribbean