Articles | Volume 24, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12031-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12031-2024
Research article
 | 
28 Oct 2024
Research article |  | 28 Oct 2024

Extreme Saharan dust events expand northward over the Atlantic and Europe, prompting record-breaking PM10 and PM2.5 episodes

Sergio Rodríguez and Jessica López-Darias

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Cited articles

Alonso-Pérez, S., Cuevas, E., Querol, X., Viana, M., and Guerra, J. C.: Impact of the Saharan dust outbreaks on the ambient levels of total suspended particles (TSP) in the marine boundary layer (MBL) of the Subtropical Eastern North Atlantic Ocean, Atmos. Environ., 41, 9468–9480, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.08.049, 2007. 
Alonso-Pérez, S., Cuevas, E., Perez, C., Querol, X., Baldasano, J. M., Draxler, R., and De Bustos, J. J.: Trend changes of African airmass intrusions in the marine boundary layer over the subtropical Eastern North Atlantic region in winter, Tellus B, 63, 255–265, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00524.x, 2011a. 
Alonso-Pérez, S., Cuevas, E., and Querol, X.: Objective identification of synoptic meteorological patterns favouring African dust intrusions into the marine boundary layer of the subtropical eastern north Atlantic region, Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 113, 109–124, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-011-0150-z, 2011b. 
Alonso-Pérez, S., Cuevas, E., Querol, X., Guerra, J. C., and Pérez, C.: African dust source regions for observed dust outbreaks over the Subtropical Eastern North Atlantic region, above 25° N, J. Arid Environ., 78, 100–109, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.013, 2012. 
Bi, H., Chen, S., Zhang, D., Wang, Y., Kang, L., Alam, K., Tang, M., Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., and Wang, D.: The Circum-global Transport of Massive African Dust and its Impacts on the Regional Circulation in Remote Atmosphere, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 105, E605–E622, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0072.1, 2023. 
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Short summary
Extreme Saharan dust events expanded northward to the Atlantic and Europe, prompting record-breaking PM10 and PM2.5 events. These episodes are caused by low-to-high dipole meteorology during hemispheric anomalies characterized by subtropical anticyclones shifting to higher latitudes, anomalous low pressures beyond the tropics and amplified Rossby waves. Extreme dust events occur in a paradoxical context of a multidecadal decrease in dust emissions, a topic that requires further investigation.
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