An exceptionally large Saharan dust storm is threatening to deposit sediment all across the south-eastern United States, experts say.

Saharan dust clouds travel thousands of miles and fertilize the water off the West Florida coast with iron, which kicks off blooms of toxic algae, shows a new study funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The researchers say the international dust contributes to deadly red tides that can kill millions of fish and other sea creatures.

Storm activity in the Sahara Desert region generates clouds of dust that originate from fine particles in the arid topsoil. Easterly trade winds carry the dust across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Gulf of Mexico.

"Because iron is one of the most common elements in most soils, a certain percentage of the dust contains iron," said Jack Lenes, an associatte professor of marine biology at USF in Tampa.

Each year, iron from Saharan dust clouds is deposited in the waters off the West Florida coast, where plant like bacteria use the iron to set the stage for red tides. When iron levels go up, the bacteria, called Trichodesmium, converts nitrogen in the water into a form usable by other marine life.

The addition of biologically usable nitrogen in the water makes the Gulf of Mexico a more likely environment for toxic algae to bloom. Toxic algal blooms, sometimes called red tides, have in the past killed huge numbers of fish, shellfish, marine mammals, birds, and can cause skin and respiratoryproblems in humans.

"This is one of the first studies that quantitatively measured iron from the dust and tied it to red tides through Trichodesmium," said Lenes.

Only now, Florida isn't the only one who can expect the fallout from this Saharan storm. For as of yet unknown reasons, a massive dust storm bound for the west coast of Florida has rapidly split and dispersed into a much larger storm. Experts theorize that due to the unusually temperate weather this winter, the storm has been drawn into the area via a vacuum created by the jetstream. Meterologists,

conservationists, and other experts predict that the storm will deposit sediments as far north as Noble, GA, and as far south as the Florida Keys.

The results of this storm are largely being downplayed, if not ignored entirely, by mainstream media. However, the results of this storm could be deadly to human, animal, and plant life. "This could poison the entire eco-system of the Southeast. Why are people ignoring this fact?" asked a frustrated Lenes.

An associate of Lenes, Dr. Jessica Armend of Emory University concurs. "We are looking at the potential poisoning of water resources, which supplies water not only to our metropolitan centers but to our crops and farms. The animals that eat these crops, including human beings, could further be poisoned. This is a serious situation that could easily spread well beyond our immediate borders." Lenes and Armend have been in teleconferences with the the Secretary of States office, to no avail.

In St. Petersburg, Florida, news of the impending danger has already spiked the cities paranoid population. Unconfirmed reports from FBI in the area, suggest that they are tracking an individual somehow tied to the situation. Newspaper photographer Jean-Paul Certayne snapped this photograph before federal agents ushered him off the scene of a murder.

PHOTO: An alley, strewn with garbage and dead dogs. Along one wall, is smeared a phrase is dark-red handprints: "The eye is above us, and her tears will turn the water to blood. Blood calls for blood, and blood shall be had. Watch for patterns, watch for history."

Federal officers had no comment, and reported the situation is well in hand.