According to the European Space Agency, this dust plume is an annual occurrence. It’s caused when wind carries huge amounts of desert dust from the Sahara across the ocean.
Scientists say the dust clouds can pose a threat to human health and trigger air quality alerts, but in other ways they are essential for marine and rainforest life, and can even prevent tropical storms.
Scientists refer to the phenomenon as the Saharan Air Layer, and it typically forms some time during the summer.
Depending on the conditions of the weather and air flows, these dust clouds can float for days or weeks.
But this year’s dust plume is unusual, both due to its size and the distance it’s covered, according to ESA.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claims the dust plume is also ‘dustier’ than usual – around 70 percent dustier than average.
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According to the agency, the dust can pose a threat to human health, causing air quality alerts and generally hazy skies.
But it also plays a role in the Earth’s ecosystem. It’s thought the dust plumes are actually a key source of food for phytoplankton – tiny marine plants that float around on the surface of the ocean.
These dust particles can float down into the water, attracting phytoplankton which in turn provides a food source for other marine life.
ESA notes the dust storms provide essential nutrients for land-based life, too.
Reportedly, the dust clouds help restore nutrients in the soils of rainforests which would otherwise run out due to frequent bouts of rainfall.
What’s more, the dusty air is also thought to help stop tropical storms such as hurricanes from forming in the Atlantic.
ESA explains: “Tropical storms need warm ocean waters and warm humid air in order to form.
“If a storm were to develop, it would collide with the dusty and dry layers of air of the Saharan dust cloud, preventing it from growing further.”
The dust plume footage was collected by the ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, which is a key part of the agency’s Earth observation fleet of satellites.