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Iraq Dust Storms
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 12, 2005 The city of Baghdad ground to a halt on August 8, 2005, under a cloud of suffocating dust that lingered over the region until the next day. According to The New York Times and the Website TerraDaily, reduced visibility slowed traffic to a crawl among those determined to brave the storm while many commuters stayed home. A number of Iraqis were quoted as saying that this dust storm is the worst they have seen in years. The storm also reportedly overwhelmed Baghdad's Yarmuk Hospital, which treated more than a thousand people with respiratory distress. City officials shut down Baghdad's main airport, and Iraq's constitution talks were postponed. Iraq's summertime climate is hot, dry, and dusty. Dust storms such as the ones pictured here are driven by a northwest wind called the shamal (or shumal, or shimal) that can rip through the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys of central and southern Iraq at any time of the year, but which blows almost constantly through June and July. Shamal winds can last for several days in a row, strengthening during the day and weakening at night, and creating devastating dust storms. Shamals cause some of the most destructive dust storms in the Middle East. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Dirt, rocks and all the stuff we stand on firmly
Magnetic Reconnection Region Larger Than 2.5 Million Km Found In The Solar Wind
Paris (ESA) Jan 12, 2006Using the ESA Cluster spacecraft and the NASA Wind and ACE satellites, a team of American and European scientists have discovered the largest jets of particles created between the Earth and the Sun by magnetic reconnection. This result makes the cover of this week's issue of Nature. |
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