Climate Change Might Make Sahara Desert Wetter, Could Make Hurricane Seasons Scarier

A satellite image of a bunch of dust blowing off of the
Sahara desert into the Atlantic Ocean. This dust tends
to suppress hurricanes. Recent research indicates
climate change will make the Sahara wetter, which
means less dust. That could make hurricane
seasons of the future worse. 

 We found another way that climate change could make life difficult for people - In Africa and maybe here in the United States, too. 

The Weather Channel tells us:

"New research from the University of Illinois Chicago suggests the Sahara Desert, long defined by relentless heat and extreme dryness, could receive up to 75% more rainfall by the end of the century. 

It's a dramatic shift that could ripple far beyond northern Africa, reshaping ecosystems, threatening vulnerable communities and even supercharging the Atlantic hurricane season."

Overall, the atmosphere in a warmer world can hold more moisture than the cooler air of the 20th century. Also, climate change shifts atmospheric circulations. Wet areas get drier, and drier areas get wetter.  

Scientists think the Sahara is one of those places that will get wetter with climate change. 

As is always the case with climate change, this shift will screw a lot of people. According to UIC Today, a publication from the University of Illinois/Chicago:

"'Changing rainfall patterns will affect billions of people, both in and outside Africa,' said lead author Thierry Ndetatsin Taguela, a postdoctoral climate researcher in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 'We have to start planning to face these changes, from flood management to drought-resist net crops."

The extra rain might increase the amount of vegetation in the Sahara. We don't know what that means in terms of land use, the effects on humans, migration and a whole host of other issues. 

Saharan sand doesn't easily absorb water easily, so the obvious first effect is flooding. But there's something else that might happen. Which affects us here in the United States. 

More rain means wetter sand, which wouldn't be as easily be picked up into the air by winds as dust. 

Dust from the Sahara is often gathered by winds in great quantities and blown out over the Atlantic Ocean. The dust tends to suppress tropical storms and hurricanes. When there's a lot of Saharan dust over areas of the Atlantic where tropical systems form, there's rarely such activity. Or if there is, the storms tend to be weaker than they would be otherwise

Losing the dust increases the risk of more frequent and stronger Atlantic hurricanes. It could mean more landfalling hurricanes in the United States, according to the Weather Channel.

Which isn't great news.

Much of the Saharan dust crossing the Atlantic sifts down on the vast Amazon rain forest. The dust contains a lot of phosphorus, a critical plant nutrient. 

Each year, about 22,000 tons of phosphorus in the Amazon washes away in rain and flooding yearly. Coincidentally and fortunately, about 22,000 tons of phosphorus lands in the Amazon every year from the African dust. 

I haven't immediately found any recent research that would predict what would happen to the Amazon rainforest if the Saharan dust stopped blowing into it. But a Climate Central article from about a decade ago suggested there would be some sort of biosphere changes or plant adaptations. 

I bet this issue will be the subject of scientific research soon.