Dust Storms Becoming More Common In Australia

Dust Storms Becoming More Common In Australia – take a look at the article below and find out why.  Please follow the link to the original website to find more interesting links regarding this subject.

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“Why dust storms appear to be becoming more common

By Rosemarie Lentini – 9 News – Australia 

A sea of red has blanketed the NSW town of Condobolin as a thick dust storm swept the state’s central west, a symptom of the drought gripping Australia.

Local residents shared incredible images of the red dust billowing over homes, fields and swimming pools yesterday afternoon.

“Dust storm out at Condo (Condobolin) this afternoon. Praying for rain for you folk out there,” Pj N Gj Fairfull shared on Facebook, alongside a snap of Condobolin Swimming Pool against a dramatic backdrop of red clouds.

Dust Storms Becoming More Common In Australia
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior forecaster Jake Phillips said the dust storm was caused by high winds and thunderstorms in the area.

“There weren’t widespread incidents of raised dust. There were definitely some localised areas where the dust was kicked up and it was quite thick,” he told 9News.com.au.

“It would have been caused by a large degree of winds generated by thunderstorm activity in the area related to a front moving through the region.”

Mr Phillips said the dust storm was not picked up by BOM’s satellites and likely subsided after a few hours.

Yesterday’s dust storm follows recent spate of similar storms in eastern Australia, including one nearly two weeks ago that left more than 5000 homes in regional NSW without power.

Households in Griffith, Temora, Ariah Park and Barellan suffered power outages for several hours on January 8 as the dust storm bore down.

Just a week before, on New Year’s Eve, dust swallowed whole towns as it barrelled through NSW centres including Dubbo, Tullamore, Nyngan and Hermidale.

Social media users tagged their dust pictures with hashtags including “hothothot” and “cleanupcoming”, as Dubbo reached a top of 39C.

Dust storms are a cyclical phenomenon which occur when hot, dry wind, usually above 30km/hr, picks up dust and carries it from west to east as a cold front moves through.

Dr Craig Strong, a lecturer at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, said eastern Australia has experienced an increase in the frequency of dust activity over the past 10 years.

“The frequency is cyclic over longer time periods with episodes of strong dust activity occurring on 10 to 20 year cycles,” he said, adding that climate and land management are the two drivers for wind erosion.

“Ground cover, predominately vegetation cover, is critical in protecting soil from wind erosion. Drought naturally reduces available water and restricts plant growth. This then reduces vegetation cover increasing bare ground (exposed soil) and likelihood of dust,” he said.

Just a week before, on New Year’s Eve, dust swallowed whole towns as it barrelled through NSW centres including Dubbo, Tullamore, Nyngan and Hermidale.

Social media users tagged their dust pictures with hashtags including “hothothot” and “cleanupcoming”, as Dubbo reached a top of 39C.

Dust storms are a cyclical phenomenon which occur when hot, dry wind, usually above 30km/hr, picks up dust and carries it from west to east as a cold front moves through.

Dr Craig Strong, a lecturer at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, said eastern Australia has experienced an increase in the frequency of dust activity over the past 10 years.

“The frequency is cyclic over longer time periods with episodes of strong dust activity occurring on 10 to 20 year cycles,” he said, adding that climate and land management are the two drivers for wind erosion.

“Ground cover, predominately vegetation cover, is critical in protecting soil from wind erosion. Drought naturally reduces available water and restricts plant growth. This then reduces vegetation cover increasing bare ground (exposed soil) and likelihood of dust,” he said.”

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