The east coast of Australia including Sydney was hit yesterday by a vast red sand and dust storm originating from interior Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, a cold front in New South Wales caused severe thunderstorms and gale-force winds, whipping up the dust from a drought stricken part of Australia, bringing air traffic to a halt and obscuring the famous Sydney opera house from view. The storm also disrupted ferry and automobile transport and caused a large increase in incidences of asthma and other respiratory problems. It also stripped soil from agricultural areas inland and deposited it in the coastal ocean. >> More
