Is African Dust Keeping The Hurricane Season Calm?

The Strange Phenomena That May Have Squelched Hurricane Season
In this Aug. 19, 2013 satellite image provided by the NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team, the Aqua satellite captures African dust blowing over the eastern Atlantic Ocean, approaching the Canary Islands. Each summer, microscopic dust particles kicked up by African sandstorms blow thousands of miles (kilometers) across the Atlantic to arrive in the Caribbean, limiting airplane pilots? visibility to just a few miles and contributing to the suffering of asthmatics trying to draw breath. The phenomenon has been around as long as there's been sand in the Sahara Desert. But it?s attracting ever more attention from regional scientists who say the clouds have grown, even if there?s no global consensus on the issue. (AP Photo/NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team)
In this Aug. 19, 2013 satellite image provided by the NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team, the Aqua satellite captures African dust blowing over the eastern Atlantic Ocean, approaching the Canary Islands. Each summer, microscopic dust particles kicked up by African sandstorms blow thousands of miles (kilometers) across the Atlantic to arrive in the Caribbean, limiting airplane pilots? visibility to just a few miles and contributing to the suffering of asthmatics trying to draw breath. The phenomenon has been around as long as there's been sand in the Sahara Desert. But it?s attracting ever more attention from regional scientists who say the clouds have grown, even if there?s no global consensus on the issue. (AP Photo/NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team)

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