Satellite images show that storms over Australian, African, and Asian deserts create dust plumes which can carry dust to altitudes of over 5 kilometers above the Earth's surface.  This mechanism transports the material thousands of kilometers away, even moving it between continents. Multiple studies have supported the theory that bioaerosols can be carried along with dust. One study concluded that a type of airborne bacteria present in a particular desert dust was found at a site 1,000 kilometers downwind.
Possible global scale highways for bioaerosols in dust include:
* Storms over Northern Africa picking up dust, which can then be blown across the Atlantic to the Americas, or north to Europe. For transatlantic transport, there is a seasonal shift in the destination of the dust: North America during the summer, and South America during the winter.
* Dust from the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts is transported to North America, mainly during the Northern Hemisphere spring.
* Dust from Australia is carried out into the Pacific Ocean, with the possibility of being deposited in New Zealand.