Saharan dust covered Athens and several Greek cities, this is one of the most serious such cases since 2018, according to the Greek authorities, the Guardian reports. The yellowish, orange cloud of fog has covered several regions in recent days, limiting visibility. The Saharan dust was carried to Greece by strong southerly winds, the authorities are warning of significant breathing risks.
“This is one of the most severe episodes due to the concentration of dust and sand from the Sahara March 21-22, 2018. since the clouds covered the island of Crete in particular,” said Kosztasz Lagouvardos, director of weather research at the Athens Observatory.
The Sahara emits 60-200 million tons of mineral dust every year, the largest particles quickly return to Earth, the smallest can travel thousands of kilometers and even reach the whole of Europe. According to the Greek Meteorological Service, the sky will start to clear on Wednesday.
Last year we also got to know Sahara dust in Hungary, then we wrote in detail about how it is basically a natural process, but in the last decade something seems to have changed. There is really more desert dust in Europe, air masses saturated with Saharan dust reach our country up to 10-12 times a year (but last year, for example, we recorded 16 such events). In our article, we went over what this is all about.
