The transport of airborne Saharan dust across the Atlantic into the Caribbean has been intensively studied. In the West African Sahel, where drought has been persistent since the mid-1960s, analysis has shown that there have been remarkable changes in dust emissions since the late 1940s. Variability in Sahel dust emissions may be related not only to droughts, but also to changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation , North Atlantic SST and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation . The frequency of dust storms has been on the rise during the last decade. Forecasts suggest that their incidence will increase further. Transboundary movement of Saharan dust into the island regions of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean has been associated with human health problems including asthma cases in the Caribbean, cardiovascular morbidity in Cyprus and pulmonary disease in the Cape Verde islands.
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report