Drought rivals 1930s dust bowl in U.S. - LA Times

Video: A drought that rivals the dust bowl of the 1930s

Felt pads

Ode to the ash-stranded

As a volcano erupts in Iceland thousands of travellers have been stranded. 

I live in London, and although the airports are shut to protect people from potential catastrophe in the skies due to deadly dust, I do not notice a marked increase of the grey stuff.

I don't know if I am inhaling the evil dust.

I travelled to and from Brussels on the Eurostar on the weekend, while others couldn't get home.

I wondered afterwards if I was wrong -- if I should have sold my ticket to someone who needed to get in or out for desperate reasons.

But I visited one of the ash-stranded while in Belgium, tried to rally spirits.

Did my best, thinking of all of you ash-stranded out there worrying, going broke.

The airline companies are complaining about losing money, and sending test flights into the air to see if their paint gets stripped off or if their engines fail.

So far, so good, they proclaim -- let us fly passengers around the world.

But what of the passengers? Would they want to fly if there is a risk of dust affecting their journey?

Time will tell.

Dust will accumulate.

Duster bunnies looking for work

Found these dust bunnies in a shop nearby today.



When you live in a city as dusty as London, you need these little friends to help out keeping things clean.

summer dust up

Fan whirs 'round and 'round
Its blades gathering fine dust
Furry grey clumps form

NASA insight

March 18, 2004
NASA Explains “Dust Bowl” Drought

NASA scientists have an explanation for one of the worst climatic events in the history of the United States, the “Dust Bowl” drought, which devastated the Great Plains and all but dried up an already depressed American economy in the 1930’s.

Siegfried Schubert of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and colleagues used a computer model developed with modern-era satellite data to look at the climate over the past 100 years. The study found cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean surface temperatures combined with warmer tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures to create conditions in the atmosphere that turned America’s breadbasket into a dust bowl from 1931 to 1939. The team’s data is in this week’s Science magazine.

These changes in sea surface temperatures created shifts in the large-scale weather patterns and low level winds that reduced the normal supply of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and inhibited rainfall throughout the Great Plains.



“The 1930s drought was the major climatic event in the nation’s history,” Schubert said. “Just beginning to understand what occurred is really critical to understanding future droughts and the links to global climate change issues we’re experiencing today,” he said.

By discovering the causes behind U.S. droughts, especially severe episodes like the Plains’ dry spell, scientists may recognize and possibly foresee future patterns that could create similar conditions. For example, La Niñas are marked by cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean surface water temperatures, which impact weather globally, and also create dry conditions over the Great Plains.

The researchers used NASA’s Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP) atmospheric general circulation model and agency computational facilities to conduct the research. The NSIPP model was developed using NASA satellite observations, including; Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System radiation measurements; and the Global Precipitation Climatology Project precipitation data.



The model showed cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures and warmer than normal tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures contributed to a weakened low-level jet stream and changed its course. The jet stream, a ribbon of fast moving air near the Earth’s surface, normally flows westward over the Gulf of Mexico and then turns northward pulling up moisture and dumping rain onto the Great Plains. As the low level jet stream weakened, it traveled farther south than normal. The Great Plains dried up and dust storms formed.

The research shed light on how tropical sea surface temperatures can have a remote response and control over weather and climate. It also confirmed droughts can become localized based on soil moisture levels, especially during summer. When rain is scarce and soil dries, there is less evaporation, which leads to even less precipitation, creating a feedback process that reinforces lack of rainfall.



The study also shed light on droughts throughout the 20th century. Analysis of other major U.S. droughts of the 1900s suggests a cool tropical Pacific was a common factor. Schubert said simulating major events like the 1930s drought provides an excellent test for computer models. While the study finds no indication of a similar Great Plains drought in the near future, it is vital to continue studies relating to climate change. NASA’s current and planned suite of satellite sensors is uniquely poised to answer related climate questions.

NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise funded the study. The Enterprise is dedicated to understanding the Earth as an integrated system and applying Earth System Science to improve climate, weather, and natural hazard prediction using the unique vantage point of space.

Ashes to Ashes

Dust in the Wind

Pick Myself Up

Inventory

dust bowl
moon dust
gold dust
dust storm
cosmic dust
early dust
garnet dust
dust devil
golem dust
dust storm
dust cloud
fairy dust
dust mite
lust dust
star dust
saharan dust
dust flow
magic dust
dust bunny
lemon dust
dazzle dust
magic dust
dust plume
dust deposition
spirit dust
pixie dust
flashy dust
smart dust
yellow dust
african dust
glitter dust
nano dust
diamond dust
dust particle
luster dust
derelict dust
eternal dust

A time of change

"Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors
and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could
not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs
and tables, on the dishes."
- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 1

Welcome to the world of dust