Climatescience文献.doc

Climate science:? The dustiest place on Earth NaturePublished online: 13 April 2005; | doi:10.1038/434816a Dust clouds can cool the Earth and halt hurricanes. But the worlds biggest dust source was until recently a war zone. Jim Giles joins one of the few research teams to make the trip. Jim Giles  C. BRISTOW Midday, near Chicha, northern Chad. Its the dustiest time of day in the dustiest place on Earth. A dirty-white haze drifts in through the open windows of the jeep, coating our clothes with powder. Outside, in the 40 °C heat, theres an argument going on.Adrian Chappell and Charlie Bristow have come a very long way, to a place where no one else wants to be, to have their dispute: the Bodélé depression, a low-lying region on the eastern fringe of the Sahara. Almost nothing grows here, amid the dunes, gravelly ground and the great plumes of dust that blot out the Sun. Even the local desert people avoid the area.But its confusion, not discomfort, that is causing Earth scientists Chappell and Bristow to disagree. After three hot and bumpy days of driving from Chads capital, NDjamena, they find themselves in a desert with a surprisingly compact, crusty surface. Were covered in dust, yet its not clear how the very solid ground were standing on can produce the clouds that surround us.This simple and surprising observation will be the source of much discussion over the next two weeks. The team of seven scientists — one of the few groups of researchers ever to visit the Bodélé — will see their tents buried by dust storms, become accustomed to digging jeeps out of the sand, and develop a taste for goat stew and roast gazelle — the only fare in this barren land.Their efforts will also shed light on one of the major players in Earths climate. Dust affects storm formation and cloud cover, and provides minerals that fertilize the ocean and jungles thousands of kilometres away. Features like the Bodélé turn out to be of planetary significance, says team member Ri