SALT LAKE CITY — FOX 13 News' camera on top of the Natural History Museum of Utah captured a dust storm blowing off the Great Salt Lake and into nearby communities.
A timelapse created from the video shows the storm moving through the Salt Lake Valley on Wednesday night, covering entire communities in a dust cloud. Even after the strong winds from the storm had passed, nighttime video shows the dust lingering over the area.
Dr. Kevin Perry, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Utah who researches Great Salt Lake dust, confirmed to FOX 13 News on Thursday that the storm included dust from the shrinking lake. In a post on Instagram, Dr. Perry warned that in some places? Air quality was "unhealthy — even hazardous."
"This is not just a lake issue. It is a public health issue. It is an air quality issue. It is a water policy issue. When more lakebed is exposed, there is more dust available to blow into our communities. That dust affects the air we breathe, the health of our kids, and the future of the place we call home," he wrote. "Great Salt Lake needs water. And Utah needs serious, sustained action to get more water to the lake. Conserve where you can. Support policies that put water back into our rivers and wetlands. Pay attention."
FOX 13 News has documented numerous Great Salt Lake storms, which increase in frequency as the lake continues to decline attributed to water diversions, drought and impacts from climate change. A study from the University of Utah released earlier this year found more than 800 miles of lake bed is exposed. Dust itself is a health hazard, but naturally occurring minerals in the lake (including arsenic) also present issues.
Utah's Department of Environmental Quality has begun installing dust monitors in communities that are in the path of Great Salt Lake dust storms in an effort to learn more and warn people of potential health hazards. Scientists have said the easiest way to mitigate the dust is through water conservation and ensuring that the lake is refilled.
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
