Yikes! Dust Storm in Sydney!

That video didn't quite do the situation justice . Immediately after dawn when the sun was low in the sky it was a really deep red across the city. It was finer than talc and got in absolutely everywhere. One unexpected problem was that it made everything very slippery.

Today we are back to the usual clear blue skys (no rain to notice since mid July) but there may be more dust on Saturday tho' not so bad.

The local pollution scale says 500 is severe this dust reached 15000 lotsa problems for asthmatics. Outside workers were largely told to go inside and stay there.
 
That video didn't quite do the situation justice . Immediately after dawn when the sun was low in the sky it was a really deep red across the city. It was finer than talc and got in absolutely everywhere. One unexpected problem was that it made everything very slippery.

Today we are back to the usual clear blue skys (no rain to notice since mid July) but there may be more dust on Saturday tho' not so bad.

The local pollution scale says 500 is severe this dust reached 15000 lotsa problems for asthmatics. Outside workers were largely told to go inside and stay there.

I'm on the mid nrth coast and we got a blue sun which was bizarre. The sky wasn't red, but yellow here.
 
Damn thing is back today. I feel like my eyeballs have been sand papered.
 
Australia’s Million Tons of Dust Create Feast for Ocean’s Algae
By Nichola Saminather

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The storms that engulfed Sydney in orange and yellow clouds last week may be a boon for sea life and lower carbon dioxide levels after as much as a million tons of dust were dumped into Australia’s oceans, providing a rich supply of food for algae.

The gale-force winds that ripped through Sydney may have dumped the iron-rich topsoil from Australia’s drought-ridden Outback into the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean, where it would have been absorbed by algae, said Craig Strong, a coordinator for DustWatch, a research and monitoring agency.

The infusion of so much soil into the ocean may prove a veritable feast for plankton that feed on algae and are then eaten by fish, crabs and krill. The tiny plants also absorb carbon dioxide from the air and water, which may reduce greenhouse gas concentrations.

“It’s been pretty well established that if iron is available, then it will lead to phytoplankton blooms,” said Heiko Daniel, a lecturer in agronomy and soil science at the University of New England in New South Wales. “And they take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

For the rest of the story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aAMJXqRFMLNE
 
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