Here's a mind-blowing fact: Sand from the Saharan Desert can blow across the Atlantic and deposit itself into the Amazon rainforest. Up to 27 million tons of the stuff arrive there every year, out of 182 million tons blown away from the Sahara.

NASA and CNES (the French space agency) are keeping an eye on all the sand moving around our planet through their Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation orbiter (CALIPSO), which has been in space since 2006. It watches from the air as the sand and dust move out of the Sahara and is helping scientists better grasp this movement, which provides nutrient rich soil to the Amazon. NASA just released the video below explaining how this process works.

The CALIPSO satellite will also monitor the effects of global climate change. If a lot of areas become a lot drier, that's more potential for sand blowing around. It could be the difference between a proportional preventative response and a new Dust Bowl.

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Source: Time

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