In just two weeks, dust storms have obscured more than 10 million square miles of the Mars' southern hemisphere.The storms forced NASA to suspend operations of its twin Mars rovers. The biggest storm has weakened near the Opportunity rover and thickened near Spirit's location. Both rovers are gathering enough solar energy to survive and observe their surroundings, lead rover scientist Steven Squyres of Cornell University said yesterday.
Such dramatic dust storms, however, aren't the only weather phenomenon Mars has to offer. The Red Planet hosts clouds of ice and carbon dioxide, tornado-like dust devils, auroras and even complex jet streams — all of this, despite an atmosphere less than 1 percent as dense as Earth's.
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