Learn a little more...with a link!
Website Article: Weather Wiz Kids, Sandstorm Questions | What’s the difference between dust storms, sandstorms, and haboobs?
Video: OpenLearn, Wild Weather Kitchen Experiments, Dust Storms | Learn how dust storms happen & create your own with a hairdryer.
Magazine Article: INFOhio, EBSCOhost, Black Sunday, Storyworks, Dec. 2016. | Find out about the biggest dust storm ever in U. S. history. May require sign in.
Read the script:
IN INDIA, VIOLENT STORMS HAVE BEEN BLOWING ACROSS THE COUNTRY'S NORTHERN STATES.
HUGE DUST STORMS WITH HIGH WINDS KNOCKED DOWN STRUCTURES AND CLOUDED THE AIR. A DUST STORM IS WHEN STRONG GUSTS OF AIR BLOW ACROSS DRY LAND, PICKING UP DIRT AND SAND, USUALLY BLOCKING OUR VISION.
METEOROLOGISTS SAY THAT DUST STORMS ARE COMMON THIS TIME OF THE YEAR IN INDIA, BUT THIS STORM WAS PARTICULARLY BAD; WITH WINDS REACHING MORE THAN 80 MILES PER HOUR.
IN OUR EARTH DAY EPISODE, WE TOLD YOU HOW INDIA HAS BEEN STRUGGLING WITH AIR POLLUTION TOO. WELL ALL THAT POLLUTION'S BEEN TURNING ITS ICONIC TAJ MAHAL, INTO A YELLOWISH BROWN COLOR. NOT COOL, BECAUSE THE FAMOUS MAUSOLEUM IS SUPPOSED TO BE WHITE MARBLE.
A MAUSOLEUM IS A MONUMENT THAT CONTAINS A TOMB. IN THIS CASE THE TAJ MAHAL WAS BUILT BY MUGHAL EMPEROR SHAH JAHAN IN MEMORY OF HIS WIFE. IT TOOK 16 YEARS TO BUILD. CONSTRUCTION LASTING FROM 1632, TO 1648.
INDIA'S SUPREME COURT SAYS THE DISCOLORATION IS CAUSED BY POLLUTION, INSECT WASTE, AND CONSTRUCTION. THE JUSTICES ARE CALLING FOR ACTION TO BE TAKEN TO BRIGHTEN THE BUILDING. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELLS US ABOUT 3 MILLION PEOPLE VISIT THE TAJ MAHAL EACH YEAR.