When we think of threats to air quality, our minds often turn to images of raging wildfires engulfing landscapes and billowing smoke into the atmosphere. While wildfires undoubtedly contribute to poor air quality, there’s another player in this complex game that deserves our attention: the annual Saharan dust clouds originating from the African coast between mid-June and mid-August. These massive dust clouds, though often overlooked, have a significant impact on air quality worldwide. “Dust storms and atmospheric dust processes have attracted societal attention for millennia. In ancient Korea, for example, dust events caused concern because they were considered as God’s punishment or a warning to the ruler.” (Knippertz & Stuut, 2014) In this article, we’ll delve into the intriguing phenomenon of Saharan dust clouds and their surprising influence on the air we breathe.