sets . ▁D ust ▁events ▁have ▁been ▁linked ▁to ▁a ▁decl ine ▁in ▁the ▁health ▁of ▁cor al ▁re ef s ▁across ▁the ▁Car ib bean ▁and ▁Florida , ▁primarily ▁since ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s . ▁Similar ▁dust ▁pl umes ▁origin ate ▁in ▁the ▁G obi ▁desert , ▁which ▁combined ▁with ▁poll ut ants , ▁spread ▁large ▁distances ▁down wind , ▁or ▁east ward , ▁into ▁North ▁America . ▁ ▁Mon itor ing , ▁meas uring ▁and ▁model ing ▁soil ▁er os ion ▁ ▁Mon itor ing ▁and ▁model ing ▁of ▁er os ion ▁processes ▁can ▁help ▁people ▁better ▁understand ▁the ▁causes ▁of ▁soil ▁er os ion , ▁make ▁predictions ▁of ▁er os ion ▁under ▁a ▁range ▁of ▁possible ▁conditions , ▁and ▁plan ▁the ▁implementation ▁of ▁prevent ative ▁and ▁rest or ative ▁strateg ies ▁for ▁er os ion . ▁However , ▁the ▁complexity ▁of ▁er os ion ▁processes ▁and ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁scientific ▁discipl ines ▁that ▁must ▁be ▁considered ▁to ▁understand ▁and ▁model ▁them ▁( e . g . ▁clim at ology , ▁hydro log y , ▁ge ology , ▁soil ▁science , ▁agricult ure , ▁chem istry , ▁physics , ▁etc .) ▁makes ▁accurate ▁mod elling ▁challeng ing . ▁E ros ion ▁models ▁are ▁also ▁non - linear , ▁which ▁makes ▁them ▁difficult ▁to ▁work ▁with ▁numer ically , ▁and ▁makes ▁it ▁difficult ▁or ▁impossible ▁to ▁scale ▁up ▁to ▁making ▁predictions ▁about ▁large ▁areas ▁from ▁data ▁collected ▁by ▁sampling ▁smaller ▁plots . ▁ ▁The ▁most ▁commonly ▁used ▁model ▁for