A study by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), an agency dependent on the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain, concludes that the most intense Saharan dust events ever recorded in the air quality monitoring networks of Spain and Portugal occurred between 2020 and 2022.

A study by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), an agency dependent on the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain, concludes that the most intense Saharan dust events ever recorded in the air quality monitoring networks of Spain and Portugal occurred between 2020 and 2022.

Dust concentrations were so high that the air quality monitors were unable to measure such a high concentration of respirable PM10 particle.

The concentration of respirable PM10 and PM2.5 particles, i.e., particles with a diameter smaller than 10 and 2.5 microns, respectively, is a key record in the air quality networks, in the European Union standards.