Global Dust Storm In Red Planet

A planetwide dust storm unlike anything known on Earth has raged across Mars and
has obscured virtually the whole surface of the red planet, the biggest Martian storm ever seen.

The planetwide storm sprang to life from a smaller duster that appeared in a southern plain called the Hellas basin in June. Sequential views show that dust from that basin spread north and east, and soon the whole planet was blotted from view by a reddish-orange cloud.

"That storm spawned other storms, and by mid-August storms were raging across the planet," said Philip Christensen of Arizona State University.
RESOURCES    
Christensen said the dust obscures the sun so much that the Martian surface has cooled by about 10 degrees. Dust thrown aloft, however, has absorbed sunlight and has warmed by some 80 degrees to about 4 degrees from its normal minus 76.

The storm is settling some now, Christensen said, but he predicted other storms will occur in coming months as Mars makes its closest approach to the sun.

NASA scientists said the storm is associated with Mars' southern spring. The planet is tilted on its axis, rather like Earth, and its closest approach to the sun comes when it is spring in the southern hemisphere. The Hellas basin is in the south.
It is not clear to scientists why a local storm on Mars suddenly bloomed into a planetwide roar.

NASA scientists said dust kicked up from the Martian surface now towers more than 60 kilometers. Winds at the surface are thought to be clipping along at around than 130 kms an hour, while high-altitude winds are even faster -- close to 400 kms an hour.

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