In recent years I’ve seen a number of Facebook posts showing photos of massive dust storms moving through the Southwestern US, many of them near Phoenix. A study published this summer by NOAA meteorologists posits that the 2008 recession led to the abandonment of many farms, allowing them to serve as a source of the dust that formed the massive clouds.
You can read a story about the study at https://www.cbs5az.com/story/33164304/abandoned-farmland-fueling-massive-dust-storms#.V-WdsRPVCQE.twitter . The original paper is available at https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/media/wrh/online_publications/TMs/TM-290.pdf. While the study does not provide definitive proof of the connection, it does point out that economics and climate are linked in ways that aren’t always apparent.
