California dust storms will get worse, new report says. It doesn't just harm your health
A team of researchers is urging more attention to the harmful effects of dust on Californians' lives in a new report that warns it's expected to worsen due to climate change.
Researchers from several University of California schools collaborated to create the report, 'Beyond the Haze: A UC Dust Report on the Causes, Impacts, and Future of Dust Storms in California.' The report aims to be a resource for policymakers on dust storms in the state. It presents strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of dust, which threatens California's health, the agricultural sector, snowpack, and more.
The report, synthesizing various work, said climate change is expected to increase dust storms in California because rainfall, soil moisture, and surface winds, all of which can drive dust emissions, are projected to change with the warming planet.
For example, higher surface temperatures due to greenhouse gases can 'greatly amplify seasonal dryness and moisture loss in the atmosphere and soil, resulting in increased severity of drought conditions' among other impacts. Future drought conditions could affect soil, such as by reducing its moisture, and 'potentially' lead to changes in dust emissions in the state's arid and semi-arid regions.
Climate change can also have more indirect effects on dust emissions in the future, with the report citing research about how global warming is driving a long-term decline in Colorado River levels by drying the basin's snowpack regions. This in turn could lead to agricultural practices, such as reducing irrigation, that 'tend to increase dust emission.'
Additionally, the effect of climate change on wildfires in the state also impacts dust emissions. Wildfires alter the landscape and its soil and reduce vegetation, leading to wind-driven dust emission. The implication is that there will be an increase in dust emission as climate change continues to increase fire risk, according to the research the report cited.
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Among the harms the report explores are those to our health and calls for California studies to 'clarify the relevant health impacts of dust and identify the highest risk communities.'
One 'key worry' is that dust in the state often carries chemicals that can lead to health problems or elevated health risks.
'As dust emissions in California have increased in the past and likely will continue to grow in the future, developing effective adaptation and mitigation strategies to minimize dust impacts needs to be prioritized,' the report read. 'Furthermore, the locations in the state with some of the highest concentrations of dust in the air are also home to some of the most vulnerable and underserved populations here.'
According to the report, where dust storms mainly occur in California are the Mono Lake area through Owens Valley, the Mojave Desert and the northwestern corner of the Sonoran Desert, the Salton Trough (which includes Coachella and Imperial valleys), and the San Joaquin Valley.
Nearly five million people live in this large swath of impacted areas, the report said.
The report also examines how dust can impact crop yields and how dust storms can injure and kill livestock. Another concern relates to California's snowpack: "dust deposition can accelerate snowmelt.' This impacts regions reliant on snowmelt, whether for agriculture or its water supplies, but also for ecosystems, the report explained.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: California dust storms worsening due to climate change, report warns
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