Sahara dust blankets Caribbean, air quality hazardous

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A vast cloud of Sahara dust is
blanketing the Caribbean as it heads to the U.S. with a size and concentration
that experts say hasn’t been seen in half a century.

Air quality across most of the region fell to record “hazardous”
levels and experts who nicknamed the event the “Godzilla dust cloud” warned
people to stay indoors and use air filters if they have one.

“This is the most significant event in the past 50 years,”
said Pablo Mendez Lazaro, an environmental health specialist with the
University of Puerto Rico. “Conditions are dangerous in many Caribbean islands.”

Many health specialists were concerned about those battling
respiratory symptoms tied to Covid-19. Lazaro, who is working with NASA to
develop an alert system for the arrival of Sahara dust, said the concentration
was so high in recent days that it could even have adverse effects on healthy
people.

Extremely hazy conditions and limited visibility were
reported from Antigua down to Trinidad Tobago, with the event expected to
last until late Tuesday. Some people posted pictures of themselves on social
media wearing double masks to ward off the coronarivus and the dust, while
others joked that the Caribbean looked like it had received a yellow filter
movie treatment.

Jose Alamo, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Weather
Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said the worst days for the U.S. territory would
be Monday and Tuesday as the plume travels toward the U.S. southeast coast. The
main international airport in San Juan was reporting only 5 miles of
visibility.

The mass of extremely dry and dusty air known as the Saharan
Air Layer forms over the Sahara Desert and moves across the North Atlantic
every three to five days from late spring to early fall, peaking in late June
to mid-August, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. It can occupy a roughly two-mile thick layer in the atmosphere,
the agency said.

Alamo said a small tropical wave headed to the Caribbean was
expected to alleviate conditions by Thursday.