The air is teeming with small creatures.
Most of them are harmless, but there are also those that can spread infections or other diseases that can be dangerous to humanity.
But in some cases, the winds are crucial for the survival of species and their reproduction.
Researchers are now struggling to find out more about how “air plankton” affects us and the ecosystem.
The currents in the wind bring microorganisms to new places and help maintain the earth’s ecosystem. A sand cloud from the Sahara can carry organisms hundreds of kilometers. This happened recently in Spain, with a strong sandstorm from the African desert covered almost the whole country, but warnings were never issued.
Even small dust particles carry microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses with the wind. In some cases, they can cause illness, although it is uncommon.
Atmospheric sampling suggests that there is an appreciable biological load at least up and into the bottom of Earth’s stratosphere at around 7 kilometers altitude at polar regions all the way up to about 20 kilometers at the equator, with seasonal variation.
All this does not mean that the air is dangerous to breathe, in normal cases, but more knowledge should be spread about this. After we have now used face masks under Covid19, we should continue to have these available in the event of any future “pollution” of the air.
With the wish for good health to all my readers, I will return soon.
Windmush/Curt, 19-04-2022
