File:Dust plumes off Eritrea (MODIS).jpg

English: Plumes of tan dust blew from the small country of Eritrea on the African coast and over the Red Sea on March 6, 2023. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the active dust storm on that same day.

A dense plume of dust parallels the coastline of Eritrea while a fine blanket of dust spreads over the country’s Dahlak Archipelago, a group of islands in the Red Sea off the coast. Only four of the islands are permanently inhabited. The Dahlak Archipelago have been known as rich pearl fisheries for centuries.

With an area slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, Eritrea sits wedged between Sudan (north) and Ethiopia (south). The hot, dry strip of desert that sits along the Red Sea coast holds copious dust that is easily lifted by strong winds to create dust storms. Away from the coast, the terrain rises to the highlands, where the climate is more temperate and most of the population is found.