“Godzilla,” the Extreme African Dust Event of June 2020: Origins, Transport, and Impact on Air Quality in the Greater Caribbean Basin

Abstract In June 2020, the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean Basin were affected by a series of African dust outbreaks unprecedented in size and intensity. These events, informally named “Godzilla,” coincided with CALIMA, a large field campaign, offering a rare opportunity to assess the impact of African dust on air quality in the Greater Caribbean Basin. Network measurements of respirable particles (i.e., PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) showed that dust significantly degraded regional air quality and increased the risk to public health in the Caribbean, the southern United States, northern South America, and Central America. CALIMA examined the meteorological context of Godzilla dust events over North Africa and how these conditions might relate to the greatly increased dust emissions and enhanced transport to the Americas. Godzilla was linked to strong pressure anomalies over West Africa, resulting in a large-scale geostrophic wind anomaly at 700 hPa over North Africa. We used surface-based and columnar measurements to test the performance of two frequently used aerosol forecast models: the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) and Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) models. The models showed some skills but differed substantially between their forecasts, suggesting large uncertainties in these forecasts that are critical for issuing early warnings of health-threatening dust events. Our results demonstrate the value of an integrated approach in characterizing the spatial and temporal variability of African dust transport and assessing its impact on regional air quality. Future studies are needed to improve models and to track the long-term changes in dust transport from Africa under a changing climate.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Published
2025-05-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-24-0045.1
Citations
6
Primary Topic
Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.63

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

“Godzilla,” the Extreme African Dust Event of June 2020: Origins, Transport, and Impact on Air Quality in the Greater Caribbean Basin

Erik Cuevas, Cassandra J. Gaston, B. N. Holben, R. Losno et al.
6 citations
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
6.63
article

“Godzilla,” the Extreme African Dust Event of June 2020: Origins, Transport, and Impact on Air Quality in the Greater Caribbean Basin

Erik Cuevas, Cassandra J. Gaston, B. N. Holben, R. Losno, J. Molinié, Julian Nava, O. L. Mayol‐Bracero, Daniel Tong, Paquita Zuidema, P. León, Elvis Torres-Delgado, Luis A. Ladino, Graciela B. Raga, Frank Müller‐Karger, D. B. Otis, Peter R. Colarco, Ilya Serikov, Daniel Rosas, Rene Garcia, Larry Di Girolamo, A. Reyes, Pablo Méndez‐Lázaro, Andrea Sealy, Elisabeth Andrews, Joseph M. Prospero, Óscar Martínez-Nieto, Bighnaraj Sarangi, B. L. Martínez-Huertas, Hongbin Yu
article en
6 citations

Abstract

Abstract In June 2020, the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean Basin were affected by a series of African dust outbreaks unprecedented in size and intensity. These events, informally named “Godzilla,” coincided with CALIMA, a large field campaign, offering a rare opportunity to assess the impact of African dust on air quality in the Greater Caribbean Basin. Network measurements of respirable particles (i.e., PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) showed that dust significantly degraded regional air quality and increased the risk to public health in the Caribbean, the southern United States, northern South America, and Central America. CALIMA examined the meteorological context of Godzilla dust events over North Africa and how these conditions might relate to the greatly increased dust emissions and enhanced transport to the Americas. Godzilla was linked to strong pressure anomalies over West Africa, resulting in a large-scale geostrophic wind anomaly at 700 hPa over North Africa. We used surface-based and columnar measurements to test the performance of two frequently used aerosol forecast models: the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) and Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) models. The models showed some skills but differed substantially between their forecasts, suggesting large uncertainties in these forecasts that are critical for issuing early warnings of health-threatening dust events. Our results demonstrate the value of an integrated approach in characterizing the spatial and temporal variability of African dust transport and assessing its impact on regional air quality. Future studies are needed to improve models and to track the long-term changes in dust transport from Africa under a changing climate.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological SocietyVol. 106(8)
Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (ES), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US), Directorate General of Traffic (ES), University of Miami (US), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US), University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus (PR), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US), George Mason University (US), University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras (PR), University of Colorado Boulder (US), Brookhaven National Laboratory (US), Université Paris Cité (FR), Autonomous University of Yucatán (MX), University of South Florida (US), Puerto Rico Department of Health (PR), Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes pour la Microfluidique (FR), NOAA National Weather Service (US), Center For Remote Sensing (United States) (US), National Institute of Meteorology (TN), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (DE), Centre international de recherche sur le cancer (FR), Université des Antilles (GP), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX)
U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
6.63
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.