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Article: Dust in the wind: Fallout from Africa may be killing Coral Reefs an ocean away.
- Article from:
- World Watch
- Article date:
- January 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Worldwatch Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Coughing her way downriver on a slow boat to Timbuktu, Ginger Garrison is a little out of her element. As Bozo tribesmen pull catfish from the Niger River and boatmen pole their dugout canoes through the midday gloom, the strong winter wind known as the harmattan lifts clouds of fine red dust into the air, and into the eyes and lungs of people throughout the dry North African region known as the Sahel.
The only breathing difficulty Garrison, a marine ecologist, usually has to worry about is emptying her scuba tank too fast in the gin-clear, bathtub-warm waters of Virgin Islands National Park in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Garrison, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ...