Desert dust, kicked up from the Sahara of northern Africa, may make small cumulus clouds less likely to release their raindrops, according to Cynthia Twohy of Oregon State University in Corvallis and her colleagues.
The researchers measured the nucleation particles around which cloud droplets form, over the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. They found that a surprisingly high percentage of the particles were Saharan dust. The tiny dust particles can lead to higher droplet concentrations but smaller droplet sizes — which may make precipitation less likely. This could create a cycle whereby dust leads to drought, and drought leads to more dust.
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Atmospheric science: Dust devilry. Nature 457, 514–515 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/457514f
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/457514f
