Envisat captures dust and sand from the Algerian Sahara Desert, located in northern Africa, blowing west across the Atlantic Ocean last week. Stretching across the eastern Atlantic, strong winds carry the plume over the northwestern tip of the Iberian Peninsula (bottom), the western tip of France, the southwestern tip of England (top right) and the southwestern coast of Ireland (top left). Dust from the Sahara Desert – the world’s largest desert, encompassing around 8.6 million sq km – can be transported over thousands of kilometres by atmospheric convection currents. These convection currents form when warm, lighter air rises and cold, heavier air sinks. Read More
