The size and concentration of the cloud of Saharan dust blanketing Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean is the most significant in 50 years, according to experts who are also warning of related health risks.
According to the Associated Press, air quality across most of the region has reached record hazardous levels.
Experts nicknamed the event the "Godzilla dust cloud."
Environmental health specialist with the University of Puerto Rico, Pablo Méndez Lázaro, says conditions are dangerous in many Caribbean islands.
Mr. Lázaro, who is working with NASA to develop an alert system for the arrival of the Saharan dust, said the concentration was so high in recent days that it could even have adverse effects on healthy people.
In Jamaica, the National Environment and Planning Agency said on Tuesday that the pollution from the dust had resulted in reduced air quality in Kingston.
This is expected to continue on Wednesday.
Extremely hazy conditions and limited visibility were also reported from Antigua down to Trinidad & Tobago.
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the mass of extremely dry and dusty air, known as the Saharan Air Layer, forms over the Sahara Desert. It moves across the North Atlantic every three to five days from late spring to early fall, peaking in late June to mid-August.
It can occupy a roughly two-mile thick layer in the atmosphere.
Meteorologists say a small tropical wave headed to the Caribbean is expected to alleviate conditions on Thursday.
More reports have also emerged on the impact of the dust on other countries in the Caribbean.
Aljazeera is reporting that on Tuesday the dust particles in Fort-de-France, Martinique made the country the eighth most polluted out of the 105 nations monitored by the World Air Quality Index project.
In Puerto Rico, Dr Olga Mayol from the University of Puerto Rico, said the situation was slightly worse.
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