NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this natural-color image of a thick veil of dust spanning hundreds of kilometers over parts of the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf on April 5, 2013. Clouds hovered over the dust, especially over Kuwait. According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, which published this image earlier today, dust storms are frequent natural hazards for Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia due to fine sediments from dry riverbeds and lakebeds, and sand seas. They said that, today, clouds might have been associated with a weather front stirred the dust.
Bottom line: Image from NASA’s Aqua satellite showing dust over the Arabian Peninsula on April 5, 2013.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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