Smog and haze are relatively normal in Bombay, so this morning when the air was thick, I didn't think much about it. We did discuss a difference in the sun this morning. Usually, the sun is a flaming orange ball on the horizon as we drive east toward Bandra Kurla Complex. Today, it sparkled like a silver coin at the bottom of a fountain.
By the time we head home from school at the end of the day, the haze has typically been blown away with breezes off of the Arabian Sea. There might be some upper level smog, or some smoke from fires burning in the slums. But normally, we ride home with a blue sky above and sunshine warming us through the windows of the school van.
Today was such a different story! All of the teachers on the 4:10 van were abuzz with talk of how dusty, hazy, polluted, smoky, (fill in your adjective of choice) the air quality was at the end of the day. I even asked one of the teachers who has been here longer if this was normal and she said she had never seen the smog this bad.
As the van exited the Western Expressway to turn onto Reclaimation Road, you would normally see the Worli Sea Link ahead and many high rise buildings across the bay. Here's what you saw today:
When I got home, I was talking to Rick about it, so we went up on our rooftop to check out our visibility. We could scarcely see Carter Road, which is just about 2 blocks from out house!
Later in the afternoon we found out what was really going on! It wasn't simply Bombay pollution cluttering up the air, but rather what meteorologists are calling a "super sandstorm." The storm originated in Saudi Arabia and spawned a plume of dust that stretches from Oman (across the Arabian Sea) all the way to India. Have a look---
Thus far, the only effects we have felt have been a tickle in our throats and headaches. Hopefully, the air will be a little clearer in the morning. If not, Sand Storm Day, anyone?
By the time we head home from school at the end of the day, the haze has typically been blown away with breezes off of the Arabian Sea. There might be some upper level smog, or some smoke from fires burning in the slums. But normally, we ride home with a blue sky above and sunshine warming us through the windows of the school van.
Today was such a different story! All of the teachers on the 4:10 van were abuzz with talk of how dusty, hazy, polluted, smoky, (fill in your adjective of choice) the air quality was at the end of the day. I even asked one of the teachers who has been here longer if this was normal and she said she had never seen the smog this bad.
As the van exited the Western Expressway to turn onto Reclaimation Road, you would normally see the Worli Sea Link ahead and many high rise buildings across the bay. Here's what you saw today:
When I got home, I was talking to Rick about it, so we went up on our rooftop to check out our visibility. We could scarcely see Carter Road, which is just about 2 blocks from out house!
Later in the afternoon we found out what was really going on! It wasn't simply Bombay pollution cluttering up the air, but rather what meteorologists are calling a "super sandstorm." The storm originated in Saudi Arabia and spawned a plume of dust that stretches from Oman (across the Arabian Sea) all the way to India. Have a look---
Thus far, the only effects we have felt have been a tickle in our throats and headaches. Hopefully, the air will be a little clearer in the morning. If not, Sand Storm Day, anyone?
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