The sky turns orange.
A loud noise is coming from the distance
and getting closer.
You turn and see a wall of sand,
rising meters (yards) above the ground,
and you’re right in the middle of its path.
What can you do to make it out alive?
Sand and dust storms are among nature's
most violent phenomena.
Most of them take place in the Middle East
and North Africa.
However, in the U.S.,
these storms are common in the
southwest in the springtime.
They occur when strong winds
pass over loose, dry sand or soil.
As the storms lift debris from
the land's surface, they form walls of
material that can be up to 3 m (10 ft) high.
But in a monster sandstorm, it could rise
to 25 m (82 ft) above the ground.
Sandstorms move fast
at up to 80 km/h (50 mph).
To seek shelter,
you'll need to move even quicker.
But sandstorms can completely block out
the Sun,
making it hard to see around you
and move.
If you get caught outside,
it’s safer to crouch down to the ground
and stay there until the storm
has left the area.
Dust storms and sandstorms are similar,
but they're not the same.
Dust storms are way more dangerous
because their particles are smaller,
and they can be launched higher
and farther into the sky.
Dust from storms can travel
up to 3,048 m (10,000 ft) aboveground.
Depending on the weather conditions,
dust can stay in the atmosphere
for over 10 days.
So it is crucial to protect
your ears, nose, mouth,
and eyes with fabric.
In 2014, a global model assessment
estimated that exposure to dust particles
caused about 400,000 premature deaths
worldwide in people over age 30.
A heavy dust storm is called a haboob,
which is the Arabic word for strong winds.
Haboobs are giant walls of dust
created by high winds rushing out of
a collapsing thunderstorm.
As a haboob builds,
it may be impossible to see if the storm is
less than 0.5 km (0.3 mi) away.
Therefore, you should never drive
in the middle of a haboob.
In March 2021, Beijing, China had the most
severe sandstorm in over a decade.
Strong winds from Mongolia blew dust
from the Gobi desert into Beijing.
After the storm, 341 people were missing
in Mongolia.
Beijing's air pollution has
been increasing in recent years,
and air pollution is already dangerous
to humans' health.
And when air pollution combines
with a sandstorm,
it can be even more severe.
When pollutants in the dust enter your
body during a storm,
they can lead to health issues like cancer.
No matter where you live,
storms can travel through continents.
The yearly Sahara Desert dust storms
cause 82 million tons of dust
to storm out from the western Sahara.
The wind storms levitate dust thousands
of meters (yards) above
the surface of the Earth,
wisps the dust thousands
of kilometers (miles) long,
and mixes with the winds traveling west
across the Atlantic Ocean
and the Caribbean Sea.
In the year 2020,
a dust storm traveled through
the Caribbean
and then made its way
through the southeastern United States.
The storm was huge and earned the
nickname “The Gorilla Dust Cloud".
In the 6th century B.C.E.,
the Persian ruler Cambyses II
conquered Egypt.
But the legend says his army of 50,000
people vanished, buried by a dust storm.
In the year 2020, researchers from
Egypt’s Helwan University
found clothing and artifacts
that they believe are the remains
of Cambyses’s army.
You’ve managed to survive not just
any storm but a monster sandstorm.
But don't get too comfortable yet.
Because it looks like there is
a mega tornado on the horizon.
Do you think you could survive that?
Find out here