Saharan dust off Western Africa
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Credit
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Dust storms from the Sahara Desert blow out over the Atlantic Ocean, obscuring the Cape Verde Islands, in these images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite. Dust transport can have positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, it can bring minerals and nutrients from the soil to marine ecosystems. On the other hand, it can carry viruses and fungi that decimate corals as far away as the Caribbean.