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News Release 18-018
New study finds world’s largest desert, the Sahara, has grown by 10 percent since 1920
Research is the first to assess century-scale changes to the Sahara's boundaries
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Africa's Sahara Desert is expanding, encroaching on savanna ecosystems.
Credit: Luca Galuzzi
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Satellite image showing the Sahara Desert (beige) and savannas to the south (green).
Credit: NASA
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A seemingly endless sea of sand, the Sahara stretches to the horizon.
Credit: Wikimedia
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South of the Sahara is the Sahel transition zone between desert and savanna.
Credit: Mamadou Faye/courtesy Wassila Thiaw, NOAA
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An intense Saharan dust storm sends a massive dust plume northwestward over the Atlantic Ocean.
Credit: NASA
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