More work is needed to explore this effect and understand the human health connections so that we can better protect and empower vulnerable downwind communities.

Of particular interest is that we find that the spatial extent of blooms at the Salton Sea (as detected by satellite instruments) appears to be a strong predictor of impacts on downwind respiratory hospitalizations, suggesting the importance of a lake spray aerosol source directly from the water.

Using a combination of observations and modeling, we provide further evidence that particulates originating from around the shrinking Salton Sea may be disproportionately harmful in terms of their health impacts on communities downwind. Not all windblown dust particles are the same!

This study was led by Dr. Yaning Miao as part of her PhD research in my group, with support from our amazing collaborators and coauthors.