Dust from Asia pollutes US, Canada air: Study
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Buy SPH photosWASHINGTON (AFP) - Dust and aerosol pollution from Asia travels across the ocean and sullies the air in the United States (US) and Canada, possibly worsening the effects of climate change, a Nasa-backed study showed on Thursday.
About half of the aerosol particles in North America come from foreign sources, and most are just from naturally occurring dust rather than from burning coal or other fossil fuels, said the research published in the journal Science.
About 58.1 million tonnes of dust, pollution and other particles that have potential climate and human health effects survive a trans-ocean journey to arrive over North America each year, the space agency said.
That rivals the 62.6 million tonnes of aerosols produced domestically from natural processes, transportation and industrial sources.
