Atmospheric Rivers: The Hidden Drivers of Global Weather and Climate Change

You might think that dust is annoying stuff that makes you sneeze and dirty your furniture. But did you know that dust can also do some good things for the planet?

A new study by a scientist from Oregon State University and his colleagues shows how dust from places like deserts and farms can help feed tiny plants in the ocean and keep some carbon dioxide out of the air.

Dust gives food to ocean plants

(Photo : RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP via Getty Images)

The tiny plants in the ocean are called phytoplankton, and they are super important for life on Earth. They make oxygen that we breathe, and they are food for many animals in the sea, as per Phys.org.

But phytoplankton need some nutrients to grow, and sometimes they don't have enough of them in the water. That's where dust comes in.

Dust is made of tiny bits of rocks, soil, and other stuff that get blown by the wind. Sometimes, dust can travel very far and end up in the ocean.

The dust carries some nutrients that phytoplankton need, like iron and zinc. So when dust falls into the ocean, it's like a buffet for phytoplankton. They eat up the nutrients and grow more.

The scientists wanted to know how much dust affects phytoplankton around the world. They used data from satellites to see how much dust was falling into the ocean and how much phytoplankton was growing over 20 years.

They found that dust makes a big difference for phytoplankton, not only in places where nutrients are low but also in places where nutrients are high. They think that dust gives phytoplankton some extra nutrients that they can't get from other sources.

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Dust helps store carbon in the deep sea

Phytoplankton are not only good for making oxygen and food but also for taking carbon dioxide out of the air.

Carbon dioxide is a gas that traps heat and makes the Earth warmer. Phytoplankton use carbon dioxide to make their own food through photosynthesis, as per ScienceDaily.

Some of the carbon that they take in gets turned into organic matter, which is like their body parts.

Some of this organic matter sinks from the surface of the ocean to the bottom, where it stays for a long time.

This is called the biological pump, and it's a way of moving carbon from the air to the deep sea. The biological pump helps keep the Earth cooler by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

The scientists found that dust helps make the biological pump stronger. They estimated that dust supports about 4.5% of the global amount of carbon that sinks to the deep sea every year.

In some places, dust can make this amount much higher, up to 20% or 40%. That means that dust helps keep more carbon dioxide out of the air and in the deep sea.

The scientists also noticed that dust has a bigger effect on phytoplankton and carbon during La Niña years than during El Niño years.

La Niña and El Niño are patterns of weather changes that happen every few years. La Niña makes more dust go from land to ocean and also makes better conditions for phytoplankton to grow.

The scientists hope that their study will help us understand and predict how dust affects the ocean and the climate in different places and times.