Here in Greece, we are accustomed to dust from the Sahara. We have often observed rain with dust. In 2024, dust from the Sahara reached further north in Europe.
This year, we also saw dusty rain in southern France, where the next photo of a red car with dusty raindrops was taken.
Exactly this situation occurred in Europe in 2024.
The following video is in Greek and is worth watching by everyone.
Nowadays, there are specialized satellites that, instead of looking up to observe galaxies and stars, look down and record measurements that help us understand how the Earth’s climate is changing. The Copernicus program uses data from satellites, ground-based, and marine sensors to monitor the “health” of the Earth and accurately record the progression of climate change.
The European Copernicus program includes approximately 6-7 satellites, which are called Sentinel. Not all of them have been launched yet, and they are shown in the next image.
For more information about the Copernicus program, you can visit: https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu.
The name of this program (Copernicus) honors Copernicus, the Polish Renaissance mathematician and astronomer, who formulated the heliocentric model of the universe, placing the Sun, and not the Earth, at its center.
On the evening of April 23, 2024, we observed the sky turning red. This happened mainly due to Rayleigh scattering, which is also responsible for the blue color of the sky. For our related article on the color of the sky, see here:
It was truly a very enchanting evening with the red sky of Athens. We also feel reassured, knowing that the Copernicus program monitors what is happening on Earth, can predict what will happen in the future, and can help us prevent it if it is not what we desire.