Storms of dust and sand are another sign our climate is changing. Two experts explain

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ)

Tourism Australia/Canva, Wikimedia Commons, The Conversation, CC BY-NC

Imagine you wake up one morning and look out your window. You see a sky of red, hear a ferocious blast of wind and watch as tree branches creak and crack.

No, the apocalypse has not descended on your local neighbourhood. You’ve just been caught in the middle of a dust storm.

These storms form when strong winds lift sand and dust particles into the atmosphere. Of the two, sand storms typically occur closer to the ground and travel shorter distances. Finer dust particles can be lifted high into the atmosphere and travel across oceans and continents. Dust from Australia has been found as far away as Antarctica.

Sand and dust storms typically occur in arid environments where the ground is dry, loose and vegetation-free. But they can inflict severe and lasting damage on homes and buildings, solar panels and farm machinery. And as our planet rapidly warms, sand and dust storms will become more common.

So what does this mean for arid nations like Australia? And what can we do about it?

Our climate is rapidly warming, dramatically reshaping weather around the globe. In this three-part series, we explore a range of emerging climate phenomena and consider how to respond to their destructive effects.

Where the dust blows…

In Australia, our dust storms mainly come from the vast, dry region of the Lake Eyre Basin in central and outback Australia.

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and Mudna-Lake Frome are two ephemeral lakes from this region that periodically flood and then dry out. This process brings new sediment that, when the water disappears, dries out and can then be lifted up by strong winds. Dust storms also form in South Australia’s semi-arid regions and the intensively farmed areas of Victoria and western New South Wales.

In Australia, dust storms travel across two main paths: from the Lake Eyre Basin across south-east Australia, and from central Australia out to Western Australia. However, recent evidence suggests there’s a third, largely unrecognised dust pathway stretching from the Lake Eyre Basin into northern Queensland and northern Australia.

Damaging dust

Sand and dust can cause major disruptions to everyday life.

Transport networks are particularly vulnerable. Sand and dust particles reduce visibility and prevent tyres from gripping the road properly, leading to more vehicle crashes.

Sand and dust storms also damage infrastructure. They can wear down farm equipment and irrigation systems, uproot fences and pollute water reservoirs. Sand and dust storms are costly to clean up. After they roll through, farmers can be left with broken machinery, reduced crop yields and less fertile topsoil. We saw this after the 2009 “Red Dawn” dust storm that swept across eastern Australia. In New South Wales alone, affected landowners spent an estimated A$5.1 million rebuilding their farms.

Sand and dust storms can hamper energy production. If dust settles on solar panels – a process known as “soiling” – they work less efficiently and need regular cleaning. One study found dust reduced how much power solar panels generated each month by roughly 4.5%.

However, sand and dust storms don’t just inflict visible damage. These storms carry microscopic particles that, if inhaled, can enter your lungs and bloodstream and cause various health problems. Dust particles may contain heavy metals such as iron and aluminium. They can absorb pathogens and facilitate the spread of infectious diseases such as Valley fever and bacterial meningitis.

When dust, drought and fire converge

In the 1940s, several severe dust storms swept across Australia, mainly due to the drying effects of intensive livestock grazing. So the term “Australian dust bowl” was born. This dusty era ushered in a new wave of land management and soil conservation policies designed to keep the dust at bay.

These environmental policies proved effective, and since that period south-east Australia has not recorded such high levels of dust. But today, more dust flies around during prolonged droughts. We saw this during the 2009 “Red Dawn” dust storm and the “Tinderbox drought” of 2017-19, which coincided with the horrific Black Summer bushfires. This compounding disaster – when two or more disasters occur together or in quick succession – devastated many communities and put immense pressure on emergency responders.

Recent storms suggest the dust is far from settled. In 2025, Sydneysiders were again shrouded in red dust, while just months later Northern Territory mine workers were caught in an intense dust storm racing across the Tanami Desert. And last May, a dust storm and its unrelenting winds ravaged the South Australian town of Port Pirie.

So, what can we do?

To prepare for future sand and dust storms, we urgently need more research. We are currently investigating how the on-and-off flooding of rivers in the Lake Eyre Basin produces dust. Satellites are also helping us better understand where major dust storms come from and travel to in Australia.

The effect of climate change on these processes should be another research priority. And we must also ensure our environmental policies address both why we are experiencing more dust and how we can protect our communities, ecosystems and infrastructure from the damage it causes.

Tegan Clark receives funding from the Commonwealth through an Australian government Research Training Program Scholarship.

Isabelle Finlay receives funding from the Central England NERC Training Alliance and Loughborough University.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/08/13/storms-of-dust-and-sand-are-another-sign-our-climate-is-changing-two-experts-explain/