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African dust carries microbes across the ocean: are they affecting human and ecosystem health?

Open-File Report 2003-28
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr0328

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Abstract

Atmospheric transport of dust from northwest Africa to the western Atlantic Ocean region may be responsible for a number of environmental hazards, including the demise of Caribbean corals; red tides; amphibian diseases; increased occurrence of asthma in humans; and oxygen depletion (eutrophication) in estuaries. Studies of satellite images suggest that hundreds of millions of tons of dust are trans-ported annually at relatively low altitudes across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and southeastern United States. The dust emanates from the expanding Sahara/Sahel desert region in Africa and carries a wide variety of bacteria and fungi. The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center, is conducting a study to identify microbes--bacteria, fungi, viruses--transported across the Atlantic in African soil dust. Each year, millions of tons of desert dust blow off the west African coast and ride the trade winds across the ocean, affecting the entire Caribbean basin, as well as the southeastern United States. Of the dust reaching the U.S., Florida receives about 50 percent, while the rest may range as far north as Maine or as far west as Colorado. The dust storms can be tracked by satellite and take about one week to cross the Atlantic.

Suggested Citation

Kellogg, C.A., Griffin, D.W., 2003, African dust carries microbes across the ocean: are they affecting human and ecosystem health? (Version 1.0): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2003-28, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr0328.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title African dust carries microbes across the ocean: are they affecting human and ecosystem health?
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2003-28
DOI 10.3133/ofr0328
Edition Version 1.0
Year Published 2003
Language ENGLISH
Contributing office(s) Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies
Description 4 p.
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) Y
Additional publication details