STS065-75-47
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African Dust Blows over the Caribbean: Shuttle astronauts
frequently track Saharan dust storms as they blow from north Africa
across the Atlantic Ocean. Dust palls blowing from Africa take about
a week to cross the Atlantic. Recently, researchers have linked
Saharan dust to coral disease, allergic reactions in humans, and red
tides. This classic photograph of African dust over the Caribbean was
taken at a time when few scientists had considered the possibility of
transatlantic dust transport. The image was taken by Space Shuttle
astronauts on July 11, 1994. This photograph looks southwest over the
northern edge of a large trans-Atlantic dust plume that blew off the
Sahara desert in Africa. In this view, Caicos Island in the Bahamas
and the mountainous spines of Haiti are partly obscured by the dust.
Closer to the foreground, (about 26 degrees north latitude), the
skies are clear.
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