Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Impact of the North African drought and El Niño on mineral dust in the Barbados trade winds

Impact of the North African drought and El Niño on mineral dust in the Barbados trade winds A large area of North Africa has been affected by a drought which began in the late 1960s and which has resulted in widespread crop failures, starvation and death. At the same time, there has been a great increase in the concentration of mineral aerosol in the trade winds over the western North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean, especially in the early 1970s and again in the early 1980s, when the drought was most severe. Concentrations in 1983 and 1984 were unprecedented and exceeded pre-drought means by a factor of four. Here we show that spring–summer dust concentrations at Barbados (13° 10′N, 50°30′ W) are correlated to rainfall deficits in the sub-Sahara. Winter dust concentrations, which are normally at a seasonal low, also increased during the drought; concentrations in 1982–1983 were ten times greater than predrought values, and appeared to be related to large-scale circulation changes associated with El Ni˜o rather than to the drought itself. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nature Springer Journals

Impact of the North African drought and El Niño on mineral dust in the Barbados trade winds

Prospero, Joseph M.; Nees, Ruby T.
Nature , Volume 320 (6064) – Apr 24, 1986
Download PDF
4 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/impact-of-the-north-african-drought-and-el-ni-o-on-mineral-dust-in-the-00umQus4Yt

References (23)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by Nature Publishing Group
Subject
Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary; Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary; Science, multidisciplinary
ISSN
0028-0836
eISSN
1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/320735a0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A large area of North Africa has been affected by a drought which began in the late 1960s and which has resulted in widespread crop failures, starvation and death. At the same time, there has been a great increase in the concentration of mineral aerosol in the trade winds over the western North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean, especially in the early 1970s and again in the early 1980s, when the drought was most severe. Concentrations in 1983 and 1984 were unprecedented and exceeded pre-drought means by a factor of four. Here we show that spring–summer dust concentrations at Barbados (13° 10′N, 50°30′ W) are correlated to rainfall deficits in the sub-Sahara. Winter dust concentrations, which are normally at a seasonal low, also increased during the drought; concentrations in 1982–1983 were ten times greater than predrought values, and appeared to be related to large-scale circulation changes associated with El Ni˜o rather than to the drought itself.

Journal

Nature – Springer Journals

Published: Apr 24, 1986

There are no references for this article.