IMAGE CREDIT: CHATGPT
Huge clouds of dust rise from Africa’s drylands every year and travel across continents, tinting skies orange as far away as Europe and the Americas.
A new scientific study published in Scientific Reports reveals something surprising: Africa is the world’s largest producer of dust storms, responsible for nearly 70% of the dust that circles the globe.
Using advanced satellite images collected between 2018 and 2024, researchers have drawn the most detailed map yet of where dust originates. Their findings show that about 5% of Earth’s land acts as a dust “hotspot.” Of that, Africa alone contributes 67%, with the Sahara Desert standing out as the planet’s single biggest dust factory.
Why Africa?
The Sahara’s vast stretches of bare sand and stone provide perfect conditions for dust storms. Strong winds sweep across the desert, lifting fine particles into the atmosphere. These winds can carry dust thousands of kilometres over the Mediterranean into Europe, across the Atlantic into the Caribbean and South America, and sometimes even farther.
But deserts aren’t the only culprits. The study shows that in Africa:
. 70% of dust sources are deserts – especially sandy soils in Algeria, Libya, Chad, and Mali.
. 25% come from rangelands – areas where vegetation is sparse, often due to overgrazing or drought.
. 5% arise from dried water bodies – such as the shrinking Lake Chad or seasonal wetlands in the Sahel, where exposed sediments become airborne when rivers retreat.
Impacts at Home and Abroad
Dust is more than a natural curiosity. In Africa, storms damage crops, contaminate water supplies, and worsen air pollution, creating health problems such as asthma and eye infections. Farmers in the Sahel, already battling erratic rains, face added challenges when dust covers fields and reduces soil fertility.
Globally, African dust plays an unexpected double role. On one hand, it causes problems by lowering air quality and disrupting aviation. On the other hand, it benefits ecosystems thousands of kilometres away. The Amazon rainforest, for example, depends on phosphorus-rich dust blown across the Atlantic from the Sahara to fertilize its soils.
Nature and Humans Both to Blame
The researchers estimate that about 65% of Africa’s dust is created by natural factors–dry climate, sandy soils, and strong winds. But 35% is linked to human activity, such as deforestation, unsustainable farming, and poor water management. For example, when wetlands and rivers dry up due to dam construction or overuse, they often turn into new dust hotspots.
Perhaps most worrying, the study finds that dust storms from deserts are becoming more frequent. Climate change, desertification, and longer droughts are intensifying Africa’s role as the world’s dust supplier. While some regions, like parts of the Middle East, have seen dust activity decline, Africa’s contribution is rising.
Bottomline
The authors describe their work as a “global dust atlas,” a detailed guide that can help African governments and communities plan better. By knowing where dust comes from, leaders can design strategies to protect vulnerable populations, restore degraded rangelands, and manage water resources more sustainably.
In short, Africa’s dust doesn’t stay in Africa. What begins as a storm in the Sahara can shape weather in Europe, feed the Amazon, and influence hurricanes in the Atlantic. Understanding these invisible connections is key to preparing for a dustier future.
VISUAL OF THE WEEK
Ancient Egypt played a key role in the development of the calendar we use today. Observing the stars and the annual flooding of the Nile, Egyptians created a 365-day solar calendar over 4,000 years ago. They divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each, plus five extra festival days, making it the first known calendar based on the solar cycle rather than the moon. This innovation allowed them to plan farming around the Nile floods and organise religious festivals with precision. Read
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Africa’s aims for health security are not aspirational dreams; they are achievable imperatives, which are grounded in policy, science, innovation and the urgent lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic,” on strengthening vaccine capacity in Africa. Reference, Nature Communications]
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
More Public Spending, Less Health Debt in Africa: A study which examined 40 African countries from 2001 to 2021 found that when governments increase spending on health, families pay less out of their own pockets for medical care. On average, Africans still cover about 39% of health costs directly, nearly double the recommended 15–20%, which often pushes households into poverty. The study shows that stronger public investment–through health insurance schemes, subsidies, and better funding–significantly reduces this burden in both the short and long term. To achieve universal health coverage, the authors argue that African governments must dedicate more resources to healthcare so that people can access essential services without selling assets, going into debt, or being trapped in poverty because of medical costs. [Reference: Advance in Public Health]
Elephants’ noses shaped by their habitats: A study which compared African savanna and Asian elephants found that, although both species rely heavily on smell to find food, their smell abilities differ in important ways. Researchers tested how well the elephants could detect a common plant odor and discovered that savanna elephants could sense it at slightly lower concentrations (50 parts per million) than Asian elephants (100 ppm). However, when a strong background odor was added, savanna elephants’ sensitivity dropped sharply, while Asian elephants were unaffected. Scientists say this reflects each species’ evolutionary environment: savanna elephants navigate patchy but less odor-dense landscapes, while Asian elephants forage in dense forests full of competing plant smells. The findings highlight how ecology shapes elephant behavior and survival. [Reference; Ecology and Evolution]
Honey-hunting with bird guides in Eswatini: Researchers in Eswatini found that young cattle herders and community members often engage in recreational honey-hunting with the help of greater honeyguide birds, which lead them to wild bee nests. Hunters use whistles, claps, or simple tools to communicate with the birds, harvest honey using smoke or herbs, and reward the honeyguide with wax or brood to keep the partnership strong. The activity is mainly cultural, with honey eaten or shared rather than sold, and skills passed down by elders and peers. Hunters also use methods to preserve bee colonies. Despite habitat loss and changing lifestyles, this unique human–bird cooperation is expected to persist because of its social and cultural significance. [Reference, Proceedings B]
Ancient Fossils Reveal Messy Human Origins: New fossils found in Ethiopia show that some of the first humans (Homo) lived alongside their ape-like cousins (Australopithecus) about 2.8 to 2.5 million years ago. This was around the time “Lucy’s” species disappeared and new human relatives appeared. The discovery proves our evolution wasn’t a simple step-by-step process but more like a tangled family tree, with different species sharing the same land. The fossils also suggest that changing environments–with drier climates and more open grasslands–played a big role in shaping our ancestors. In short, becoming human was far less straightforward than once believed. [Reference, Nature]
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