Duststormshave killed hundreds and are a growing problem in parts of the U.S.

Tom Gill, a professor in the environmental science and engineering program at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the key ingredients for dust are typically drought, land disturbance and wind. 

Farm fields without irrigation are a common source of dust storms. 

Ford said he didn’t think climate change was necessarily a factor in Monday’s crash, as it had largely driven wetter planting seasons and flooding in Illinois. But he said land management issues were a particular problem in Illinois and could have contributed to the issue. He did note that climate change was certainly a factor for dust storms in the West, where they predominantly occur.

Shrinking or empty lakes in Western states have been significant contributors of dust pollution. 

Last fall, the Great Salt Lake’s water levels fell to its lowest on record, exposing much of the lakebed and creating conditions for storms of dust — laden with toxic metals — that now threaten the 2 million people living nearby.

In California, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ratepayers have spent at least $2.5 billion controlling dust emissions at Owens Lake, which was drained by the utility and was once the largest human-caused source of dust in the U.S.

Dust can have health consequences. Exposure to dust particles can cause respiratory disease, cardiovascular issues and fungal infections. Dust can carry heavy metals and other toxins into people’s homes and lungs. Any dust-related deaths caused by disease or infection were not included in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society study.

“If you breathe particles of stuff in the air and it gets into your respiratory tract, in your lungs, it’s going to cause irritation whether it’s toxic or not,” Gill said. “It adds to the burden of air pollution.” 

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