[HN Gopher] Saharan dust: Orange skies and sandy snow in souther...
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Saharan dust: Orange skies and sandy snow in southern Europe
Author : pseudolus
Score : 51 points
Date : 2021-02-06 19:34 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.bbc.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.com)
| tony_cannistra wrote:
| When the sand falls on the snow in the Alps, it increases the
| ability of the snow to absorb heat from the sun (because it's
| darker -- this is known as "albedo") which accelerates the
| melting of the snow. This happens in the Western United States
| too, and has been studied [0] as a source of uncertainty in
| predicting snow melt timing (e.g. for things like water
| availability).
|
| [0]: https://www.pnas.org/content/107/40/17125.short
| teeray wrote:
| As a former competitive alpine ski racer, that effect plus the
| abrasion of the sand itself would make for some very
| interesting wax choices. "Wetter" usually means a softer wax,
| but softer waxes don't stand up to abrasion like that. I'd be
| interested where the majority of the sand ends up on a mountain
| and how it gets distributed through the snowpack when groomed
| out.
| eCa wrote:
| This effect is also in play in the arctic, but there it is the
| dark (compared to ice) sea that absorbs more energy.
| pseudolus wrote:
| It's not only sand that's being transported but also spores and
| bacteria. Sort of a small-scale terrestrial version of
| panspermia.
| ficklepickle wrote:
| I love the Sahara. I spent one night in the desert and I will
| never forget it. The stars were amazing. The moon didn't rise
| until ~midnight. When it did finally rise, I got really confused
| because I hadn't noticed it missing. At first I thought the sun
| was rising. I layed on the dunes so long I could watch the stars
| rotate in the sky.
| atoav wrote:
| Watching the stars in a desert is _really_ magical
| Foobar8568 wrote:
| So Switzerland is in "Southern Europe" :o
| OnlyMortal wrote:
| Depends on your point of reference ;-)
| dnpp123 wrote:
| As the link says, pretty common. Happens in most places
| (relatively) close to a desert.
| personlurking wrote:
| Used to get Saharan dust in Puerto Rico (when I lived there).
| Thin layer of black dust throughout the apartment that had to
| be cleaned every 4 days or so.
| brg1007 wrote:
| Pretty common maybe, but skiing at 2500 - 3000 m on slopes
| covered in sand made today a very unique experience .
| squeezingswirls wrote:
| Saharan dust likes to travel, that's for sure.
|
| https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-satellite-reveals-...
| jeffrallen wrote:
| See also "Dust'.
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connected_(2020_TV_series)#E...
| bhaak wrote:
| It's a surreal sight. The reddish tint gives an eary feeling.
|
| During the day, I was expecting to see the invading Martian
| tripods pop up at any time.
|
| Was a good occasion to listen to a few songs from Jeff Wayne's
| musical of he War of the Worlds again.
| cheaprentalyeti wrote:
| Ah. The Sirocco.
| stareatgoats wrote:
| In other places (the Canaries) known as "Calima"
| _ph_ wrote:
| I am living in Munich, Germany and noticed the yellow tint to the
| sky today around noon. It was quite a strange view.
| k__ wrote:
| Same here, living in Stuttgart.
|
| Looked a bit like a Mexico filter.
| kristo wrote:
| I wish I could add a photo of the sky in the alps right now.
| Insane.
| RedEdward71 wrote:
| This is very accurate. I spent 10 months in the Saudi Arabian
| desert as a young airman during Desert Storm in '90-'91. I
| experienced 3 or 4 sand storms and the enormity of them
| overwhelmed everything with an orange/tan/yellow hue. I also
| witnessed sandstorms wear down paint on vehicles to shiny bare
| metal!!
| SpaceInvader wrote:
| It's not the first time. [0] This is my picture taken April 3rd
| 2016 in Poland from Babia Gora mountain.
|
| [0]: http://signalstorm.net/sahara_sand.jpg
| MikeDelta wrote:
| It was quite magical the first time I saw the red dust on my car.
| I put some of it in a vial, as it came from far, far away.
|
| But as I look around my living room, everything around me comes
| from even farther, farther away than the Saharan desert.
| secondcoming wrote:
| Were those things in your living room carried by the wind too?
| 1996 wrote:
| Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!
| MikeDelta wrote:
| Haha, no I think shipping container from Asia.
| wott wrote:
| It happens relatively often here in the French Pyrenees (it may
| double down as a Foehn effect going from South to North after
| passing the ridge line (which is horizontal on a map). If you pay
| attention, you may notice the result in one James Bond from the
| Pierce Brosnan era "Tomorrow never dies"; the opening (or
| second?) scene is supposed to take place in a rogue airbase in
| Somewheristan, but it was actually shot in an altitude airport in
| the French Pyrenees, just a day or two after one of those Sahara
| sand winds.
|
| But this time, it was not just a fine dust. There is plenty glued
| on the house windows, and shutters, and walls. It was raining mud
| :-D Never seen that in over 40 years.
| OnlyMortal wrote:
| At least it's better than the "Yellow Snow" warning the BBC has
| put out. Nobody wants yellow snow.
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(page generated 2021-02-06 23:00 UTC)