Freak Sand Storm

Earlier this week a sand storm the size of which you would imagine only seeing in the movies rolled through Phoenix, Arizona.  The storm, estimated at its largest, was about 1 mile high and approximately 100 miles wide.  Driven by 60 mile per hour winds, the storm swept up dust and sand and traveled for about 150 miles before finally ending.  If you usually don't click on the links here to check out the story I am referring to, I would highly recommend doing so today.  The pictures and associated video clips are amazing.  According to many people, this was one of the largest sand storms that anyone can remember.  After four months of nearly no rain for the area, it should be no surprise that a storm this large was whipped up.  It seems that more and more freakish weather events are occurring around the nation and for that matter around the globe.  After record snows this past winter to record flooding this spring and early summer, we now have record tornadoes and the latest, sand storms.  While sand storms may be fairly normal for desert regions such as Arizona, this latest one was epic. 

All these weather events seem to beg the question, why is all this happening.  Well, we all by now know that the earth is a little warmer than it used to be and with the increase in temperature, many variables change and contribute to the changing weather patterns.   As the average temperature rises, more water evaporates from the surface of the earth.  This can increase the frequency of droughts in some regions, such as Arizona, and in others, it can lead to increase rain and flooding.  As more moisture makes it into the atmosphere, it adds to the frequency of storms in some regions and overall, makes tracking weather events more difficult and unpredictable.  As the earth continues to slowly warm, it seems like more of these freakish weather events will become more common.  Unfortunately, as it stands right now, it will take the efforts the world over to try and bring the average global temperature down if we even can.  So for now, I guess we will have to get used to massive storms, unpredictable rain and droughts, and more uncertainty overall.  I will keep it short today because it is Friday, but enjoy the pictures of the sandstorm (luckily no one was injured or killed as a result) and lets hope that any more of these storms don't wreak havoc and destruction.