PhotoGlobe is an educational site providing high-quality photos of our planet. Fore more information, please read the About pages.


PhotoGlobe Earth from Space Europe Canary Islands
See also: Spain, Spain and Portugal from Space 

Canary Islands
A thick pall of sand and dust blew out from the Sahara Desert over the Atlantic Ocean yesterday (January 6, 2002), engulfing the Canary Islands (Spain) in what has become one of the worst sand storms ever recorded there.

In this scene, notice how the dust appears particularly thick in the downwind wake of Tenerife (see also photo album at left), the largest of the Canary Islands. Perhaps the turbulence generated by the air currents flowing past the island’s volcanic peaks is churning the dust back up into the atmosphere, rather than allowing it to settle toward the surface.

Source of material: NASA           PhotoGlobe Pictures: Tenerife

Last Update: 2005-Apr-15