Good grief, Herman, has the water guy gone completely around the bend this time? Do you think he's one bubble off level? Not long ago he talked about something called a derecho that turned out to be climate related, but now, haboobs? What're they? Has he totally lost it, or is he just a dirty old man?

I guess the jury is still out on both parts of the last question, but the word "haboobs," believe it or not, is a real word, a word that's actually used by climate scientists (see, there's climate again.) Haboobs and the singular form haboob are words derived from an Arabic word habb (meaning "blasting wind") to describe a wind-driven sandstorm carried on an atmospheric gravity current and forced down and forward by the leading edge of an intense thunderstorm.

Haboobs were first described and named in the Sahara desert but commonly occur in arid places such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the plains of India. But this summer you may have heard of or seen pictures of the haboob that struck Phoenix, AZ.

Let's talk a little about haboobs and how and why they occur. In the Sahara, they regularly result from the northward movement of a weather front called the inter-tropical front bringing moisture into the desert from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Incidentally, this is the same area from which the hurricanes that regularly threaten North America are spawned, but we'll talk more about hurricanes another time. This weather front creates the conditions necessary for a haboob.

The haboob occurs when a downdraft from the front reaches the ground and lifts dry sand into the air, creating the wall of sand that precedes the rainstorm.

The haboob that hit Phoenix likely happened in a similar fashion. No doubt a moisture laden front, moving north was the culprit that caused the haboob. Not only did Phoenix get hit by the sand, but the sandstorm was followed by an intense monsoon-like rain.

Haboobs are not complete strangers to the southwestern United States, and have occurred in the past in Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas, all arid or semiarid locations. What is interesting is that in recent years they are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity. Just ask residents of Phoenix about trying to clean up the mud that the recent haboob left on vehicles, yards, roofs, sidewalks, etc.

No, what this indicates is further evidence that climate change is occurring. The derecho in our area, the haboob in Phoenix, hurricane Isaac and other hurricanes, the Midwestern drought, the waterspout in New York, even the earthquake in Virginia last year, all are indications, at least to this writer, that we are in the midst of some dramatic climatic shifts.

Where will it end? In 50 or 100 years, will we see palm trees in Vermont? Will Virginia be a tropical paradise similar to Key West? Will there be seawater in the streets of lower Manhattan? I don't know, I'm not able to prognosticate, but I'm concerned, if not for myself, for my children and grandchildren. What about you?

A few more water related songs: "Wind on the Water" by Crosby and Nash; "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton; and "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson.