The increasing popularity of off-road four-wheel drive cars is threatening to envelop the globe in a cloud of dust, with potentially severe effects on the environment, a British scientist said on Thursday.
The process - dubbed "Toyotarisation", after the Japanese vehicle maker Toyota - could have severe consequences for human health, coral reefs and climate change, said Andrew Goudie, a professor of geography at Oxford University.
"The number of four-wheel drives now in the south-west USA and the Middle East is staggering," said Goudie, warning that the vehicles had a major impact on desert environments.