Weather
Sahara dust phenomenon: The red clouds over Athens are disappearing
Due to climatic conditions, the Attica region around Athens is regularly affected by Saharan dust, especially in spring and autumn. photo
© Petros Giannakouris/AP/dpa
Dim like a solar eclipse, red like Mars: As a natural phenomenon, the Sahara dust over Athens has thrilled many people. But they are also happy when the wind removes the particles.
Huge clouds of sand and dust from the Sahara made the air stuffy again in the morning Athens and other parts of Greece.
On Tuesday, hospitals and doctors’ offices had already treated more patients than usual. Meteorologists have now given the all-clear: the phenomenon is expected to subside during the day as westerly winds drive the dust eastwards. What remains is a red layer of fine dust that covers cars and balconies everywhere and sticks to the windows.
Due to climatic conditions, the Attica region around Athens is regularly affected by the phenomenon, especially in spring and autumn, said meteorologists to the daily newspaper “Kathimerini”. Warm southerly winds carrying dust from Africa meet cooler currents from the north, causing the dust-carrying warm air to rise to heights of up to two kilometers and remain there. Because the dust particles reflected the sun’s rays, the sky glowed hazy red, said Nikos Michalopoulos from the National Observatory of Athens.
Problematic for people
As exciting as the phenomenon was to observe, it was problematic for people: many suffered from dry, itchy eyes and a scratchy throat, and it was difficult to breathe in Athens over the past two days.
The island of Crete was also badly affected by the dust. Although the fine dust pollution was very high this time, it was still far from a record. “A few years ago there was a pollution level of 3,000 micrograms per cubic meter of air,” recalled Michalopoulos. The daily average limit is actually 50 micrograms per cubic meter.