Africa’s Sahara Dust: A Danger and a Blessing

Africa exports a lot of dust. In Europe, it always has the continent on edges, but in South America, it arrives as a blessing, enriching the Amazon forest soils with nutrients.

IMAGE CREDIT: CHATGPT

Imagine how much dust we inhale across Africa. Yet, many of us don’t realise that our continent is also one of the world’s largest exporters of dust. This dust we send into the skies can be both a blessing and a burden, depending on where it lands.

Across Europe, air quality monitors are on high alert, tracking dust clouds that travel thousands of miles from the Sahara Desert. Countries like Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Tunisia, and Morocco are key sources of this dust, which often blankets Europe.

On March 22nd, 2024, AtomHub, a Greek organisation monitoring atmospheric conditions, warned:

“Starting today, Saturday, Saharan dust is affecting our country. The phenomenon will peak in the coming days and persist into next week, with dust still present on March 25th,” the organisation said in a LinkedIn post. “Caution is advised for individuals with respiratory conditions, allergies, and elderly populations.”

Days earlier, Copernicus ECMWF, the European Union's Earth Observation Programme, reported: “Our #CopernicusAtmosphere European regional ensemble forecast shows #SaharanDust crossing Spain and France towards the UK over the next couple of days.”

These alerts underscore a broader concern. North Africa contributes 50% of the world’s dust, and its emissions account for 36% to 79% of global dust output.

While this dust can cause health crises, so far, dust storms blowing from Africa into Europe haven’t sparked a major health crisis. But researchers warn that Saharan dust aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, and can carry diseases like meningitis and valley fever.

There are also lesser-known effects. A 2024 study revealed that airplanes waiting to land at major airports ingest around 10kg of dust per 1,000 flights. The largest amounts were recorded at airports near the Sahara Desert, the Middle East, and Northern India, where hot, dry conditions fuel intense dust storms.

Niamey in Chad and Marrakesh in Morocco were identified among the cities with the highest dust exposure, particularly in the summer months.

In West Africa, dust storms are directly linked to meningitis outbreaks. Multiple studies show that the meningitis season often begins as dust starts blowing near the surface at the start of the year. The disease typically peaks between February and April, often following dust peaks by 0 to 2 weeks—a clear sign that dust exposure can trigger or worsen outbreaks.

Meningitis in Africa’s so-called "meningitis belt" can be devastating. In 2009, more than 2,500 people died from an outbreak, due in part to a lack of vaccines.

Dust and the colonial legacy

As Saharan dust crosses into Europe each year, headlines describe it as an "intrusion," an "irruption," or a "threat," Lucy Sabin and Jorge Olcina Cantos argued in their 2023 paper. These terms reinforce a “Fortress Europe” mindset, portraying the dust as an invading force, they argued.

But Saharan dust isn’t just an environmental concern—it’s part of Europe’s colonial entanglement, they authors say.

For centuries, Lucy Sabin and Jorge Olcina Cantos writes that the Mediterranean has been a crossroads of bodies, minerals, and power, shaped by colonial expansion. Today, Saharan dust carries with it the residue of Europe’s imperial past: sand mined from Western Sahara, radioactive particles from France’s nuclear tests, and the scars of Africa’s environmental exploitation.

Europe breathes the afterlife of its colonial legacy—an atmosphere it can no longer keep at bay.

A 2025 study published in Science Advances revealed an alarming twist: Saharan dust storms carry radioactive contaminants from France’s nuclear test sites in Southern Algeria to Western Europe.

After a massive dust storm in March 2022, scientists analyzed 110 dust samples collected across six European countries. They detected plutonium and cesium isotopes, radioactive remnants of nuclear tests. While much of the contamination aligned with global nuclear fallout, the dust traced its path to Reggane, where France conducted nuclear detonations in the 1960s.

A blessing

But not all dust spells trouble. In South America, Saharan dust is a lifeline for the Amazon Rainforest, the world’s largest carbon sink.

A NASA-led study found that dust from the Bodélé Depression in Chad travels thousands of miles to the Amazon, carrying phosphorus, an essential nutrient.

The Amazon’s soil is poor in phosphorus because heavy rains wash it away. But each year, the Sahara delivers about 22,000 tons of phosphorus, helping the rainforest stay healthy and productive.

This dust connection isn’t new. A 2021 study revealed that the Amazon has received Saharan dust for at least 7,500 years.

VISUALISATION OF THE WEEK 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK 

“Non-optimal temperatures are now considered among the leading risk factors of mortality worldwide. A global analysis showed that 9·4% of all deaths can be attributed to both cold and hot non-optimal temperatures, corresponding to about 5 million deaths,” researcher write in The Lancet’s Planetary Health Journal. 

“In most epidemiological studies, excess cold deaths far outnumber heat deaths. In that same global analysis, of the 9·4% attributable temperature-related deaths, 8·5% (range 6·2–10·5%) were cold-related and only 0·9% (range 0·6–1·4%) were heat-related, which corresponds to approximately 4·6 million deaths from cold and about 489 000 from heat, a ratio of roughly 9:1 of cold versus heat,” the authors added. 

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS 

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Sub Saharan Africa is not ready. Emerging agricultural technologies offer solutions to food security challenges but introduce new food safety risks such as allergenicity, antimicrobial residues, and nanoparticle migration. But regulatory frameworks in Sub-Saharan Africa remain inconsistent and often fail to address the unique challenges posed by new technologies, necessitating stronger policies and enforcement mechanisms. [Reference, Modern Agriculture]

What does Northern Nigeria tells about dementia in Sub Sahara Africa. A new study reveals a growing burden of dementia in Northeastern Nigeria, where access to specialized care is limited. Researchers analyzed records from the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Maiduguri, the only facility treating mental health conditions in the region, to understand dementia trends over the past two decades. The study reviewed cases from 1999 to 2023, focusing on patients aged 60 and above. It found that Alzheimer's disease was the most common form of dementia, making up 60.5% of cases, followed by vascular dementia (24.5%). Many patients also had other health conditions, with high blood pressure being the most common. Reference, Alzheimer's & Dementia Journal]

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