GlacierHub highlights Clifford, More’s Saharan dust storm findings
GlacierHub detailed Heather Clifford and Alex More’s findings that Saharan dust storms are likely to intensify. Clifford is a graduate student with the Climate Change Institute and More is a research professor at the CCI, a researcher at Harvard University, and an associate professor in the School of Health Sciences at Long Island University in New York. Clifford said data from a 72-meter Colle Gnifetti ice core indicates that dust was more likely to be picked up by winds when conditions were dry over the African Sahel, or more arid over the Sahara, or when there was high sea-level pressure over the Mediterranean. Periods of drought are expected to become more severe with climate change, so they predict an intensification of Saharan dust storms. The researchers used a laser to compile this longest and most accurate record of Saharan dust transport (spanning 2,000 years) to the European Alps. “This was the first time that researchers from history, climate science, archaeology, volcanology, public health and multiple other disciplines came together for a project like this: from grant-writing to publication,” said More.