Desert dust intensifies summer rainfall in U.S. southwest
Monday, May 21, 2012 - 07:00
in Earth & Climate
(Phys.org) -- Dust is more than something to be brushed off the furniture. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that dust kicked up from the desert floor acts like a heat pump in the atmosphere, fueling the annual climate system called the North American Monsoon. The dust increases precipitation by up to 40 percent during the summer rainy season in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Their study, the first on the U.S. Southwest summer monsoon, found that the heat pump effect is consistent with how dust acts on West African and Asian monsoon regions.