To improve your experience Over 7,700 photographs were submitted by over 2,600 photographers, capturing clouds, lightning, rain, fog or snow through to the impact of weather on humans, cities and the natural landscape.Queensland residents are being warned of poor air quality today as dust haze leads to "very poor" levels in parts of the city.A shield of dust sweeping through the Sahara is becoming the worst dust storm in the Caribbean in decades.Footage has shown what many have called an 'apocalyptic' wall of dust and sand engulf Niger's capital city, Niamey, in West Africa.Residents from a town west of Melbourne have been urged to evacuate as an out-of-control bushfire rips through the region.Victoria's wild weather continues to cause chaos, with orange dust blanketing the state's beaches, rivers and waterways, including Melbourne's Yarra River today.An eerie red haze has descended over parts of South Australia as a cool change brings powerful winds whipping up dirt.The enormous cloud saw night descend prematurely on the town of Dubbo, as residents were blanketed in a thick coat of red dust.Hot winds are whipping up thick red dust in Mildura, with temperatures soaring into the high-30s before lunchtime.A decade on from the eerie day an entire state was covered in a red haze, images of landmarks affected by the storm highlight how thick the cloak of dust was.A red wall of dust descended upon the state as wild wind gusts drastically lowered visibility for drivers and health warnings were issued for people with asthma.Mildura has had dust storms in the past - but locals are saying this is the worst they've seen in 40 years.Dangerous dust storms have been whipped up across South Australia as wild weather lashed the state.A sea of red has blanketed the NSW town of Condobolin in the latest dust storm that's gripped Australia's east coast.A severe dust storm that hit regional New South Wales sparked major power blackouts for about 5000 homes as the sky was turned red by whipped-up top soil.A man preparing to set off on a paragliding trip has received the fright of his life after a dust devil formed and swept him over a cliff.The dust appeared like a wall and swallowed towns around Dubbo this afternoon.Wild winds are wreaking havoc across southeast AustraliaAmbulances have responded to almost 100 calls cross Sydney as a wall of red dust swamped the city. Sarah Basford Canales is a journalist for Gizmodo Australia, specialising in technology issues and regulation. Occasionally, during widespread drought, dust storms reach coastal areas. The Sydney Harbor Bridge is cloaked in dust as the worst dust storms in 70 years blanket much of Sydney in Australia's New South Wales state, Sept. 23, 2009. Credit: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft Wednesday September 2, 2020 - 17:48 EST In the drier areas (for example, western NSW), they will be more frequent and start earlier but as the drought progresses, we get more of them making it to the eastern seaboard.”We’ve reached out to the Bureau of Meteorology to confirm how many dust storms the region has experienced over the past few months and if there has been an increasing trend in severity and frequency.I know Australians are used to wild weather, but c’mon, 2020 has been ridiculousWhile the ominous wall of dust looks apocalyptic, history has shown us towns emerge from the dust storms mostly in tact. According to the New South Wales regional director of the Bureau of Meteorology, Barry Hanstrum, the cause was an "intense north low-pressure area" which "picked up a lot of dust from the very dry interior of the continent". Senior forecaster Ewan Mitchel said winds from a cold front picked up dust from north-east South Australia on 22 September. “We do know that over the long term dust does have a slight cooling effect — on average — on the climate because more of the sun’s radiation is scattered back to space and doesn’t reach the surface.” The thunderstorm associated with the dust storm, according to BOM, is expected to hit coastal areas of the state by the afternoon bringing dusty conditions with it.— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) Paul explained there are potential effects on human health too outside of property damage and wild weather conditions.