Asthma: Why Dust In The Air Can Trigger Attacks

In Dubai, weather warnings have been released stating that high winds will wreak havoc on cities and towns. These winds will pick up dust, creating dust storms and rain. The high speeds of the winds and sands will decrease visibility, too. The most important factor of this weather though is the effect it will have on people with respiratory issues. Those stating the report have explained that anyone with asthma should either wear a mask or avoid heading out into the weather if at all possible. Doctors in Dubai have noted that there has been a 20 percent increase in patients with upper respiratory complications since the arrival of such extreme weather.

Such sandstorms contain two types of particles, one of which is coarse and one which is fine. Generally, the fine particles cause more damage to people with asthma. GPs have advised that anyone who suffers from asthma should continue to take medication during this weather, even if staying indoors. They suggested that if patients are experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath and severe cough, they should seek medical advice as soon as possible in case of an attack.

Asthma is a respiratory condition which affects one’s ability to breathe easily – irritants and particles cause the airways to create an anti-inflammatory attack on the body, which causes the airways to swell and constrict. People suffering from asthma can help to reduce the risk of an attack through limiting their exposure to excess dust and mould spores, chemicals in the air such as air fresheners, and perfumes. Exercising helps to open up the lungs, so light physical activity once or twice a week can help. It’s important to take it easy with exercise though, as it can have an adverse effect – speak to your GP if you’re unsure which forms of exercise are best for the severity of your condition.

Asthma: Why Dust In The Air Can Trigger Attacks

Categories: Asthma, Attack, dust, Stormy Weather, weather, Winds

Rainforest Dubbed a ‘Powerful Mechanism’ in Weather Patterns

When it comes to creating wind, anyone will tell you that temperature differences play a key role. If you remember anything from your geography lessons at school, you’ll know that hot air rises and is replaced by cooler air surging in beneath, causing wind to occur, but is that explanation found in every textbook too simple?

Consider this instead: what if the winds that drive atmospheric circulation are mainly created by the condensation of moisture? This happens mostly in the rainforests, where water evaporates or is transpired by trees, and this is why the environmental wellness experts behind this notion are saying that if we chop down the forests, the winds – and the rains they bring with them – will also be lost.

No one is disputing the physical process itself, as the volume of water vapour is reduced whenever it condenses to form droplets. This lowers the pressure, and allows air to move in, creating wind. However, climate scientists have always regarded the rain forest’s effect on wind as trivial, having no impact on the planet’s wellbeing. The theory was first aired four years ago, and, according to Isaac Held of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Princeton, New Jersey, it has been attacked by critics ever since. ‘This is not a mysterious effect. It is small and included in some atmospheric models,’ he said.

Yet Anastassia Makarieva, a physicist of St Petersburg University in Russia, argues that the pressure gradients cutting down the rain forests would create ‘have never received a theoretical investigation’. According to her calculations, the condensation of billions of litres of water above giant forests is not trivial, but rather produces a giant effect.

Douglas Sheil at Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia, who co-authored Makarieva’s research, says until critics actually explain why they think Makarieva is wrong, ‘this looks like a powerful mechanism that governs weather patterns round the world..In standard theories, if we lose forests the rainfall in the continental interiors generally declines by 10 to 30%. In our theory, it is likely to decline by 90% or more.’ Yet their theory also suggests that replanting the lost forests could generate enough wind to return rain to even the driest lands on the planet.

Not everyone opposes the theory. Judith Curry of the Georgia Institute of Technology, an author of the standard textbook Thermodynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, encourages, ‘The process they describe is physically correct. The main question is its relative magnitude compared with other processes.’ She adds that Makarieva and Sheil may have found a way to explain why climate models do not get monsoons and hurricanes right.

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Rainforest Dubbed a ‘Powerful Mechanism’ in Weather Patterns

Categories: Rain Forest, Research, Winds