Publication: CBS News

UCLA Expert: Jasper Kok: Associate Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences;  Member, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Synopsis: UCLA research, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment on Tuesday, found that the amount of atmospheric dust has increased by about 55% since pre-industrial times, with many ups and downs along the way.

UCLA News: According to Kok, increase in atmospheric dust is likely due to changes in global climate, such as wind speeds in some deserts, as well as land-use changes, such as transforming land into agriculture and diverting water for irrigation. Right now, it's unclear how the dust levels will change in the future. Kok explained that dust storms are "very complicated" and depend on a variety of factors, including wind speed, precipitation, evaporation and land-use. But what is known is that the planet has already warmed by about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) since the mid-1800s, with the past eight years, from 2013 to 2022, the hottest in recorded history. And Kok says if the dust had not increased, global temperatures would likely be another 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit higher. 

Read more at CBS News.