Beautiful from Space Only



The European Space Agency (ESA) has released today a satellite image of southern Iraq taken September 14, 2008. It shows an enormous sand storm which apparently did not affect Kuwait, as I checked right now. Weather Underground (my favorite weather forecast site) had reported weather and 45 centigrades maximum temperature that very day. Still rather hot, I suppose.

Kuwait had been plagued by a large number of sandstorms this year. I remember 2003 when military activity in the north of the tiny Gulf state was made responsible for numerous sandstorms which occurred from April through June. They usually develop when large amounts of cold air moves across dry ground, which is covered by loose sand or salt. They inevitably impair quality of air and may cause asthma attacks or even bronchitis and conjunctivitis. Even the immune defense might be affected.

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