To assess interannual soil dust aerosol variability, we computed dust as a tracer in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model. Comparisons of dust model results with results from an off-line tracer model, satellite retrievals, and ground observations show mostly good agreement, but also reveal problems with the model results and difficulties with such comparisons. Two 15-year runs with prescribed sea surface temperatures were carried out, one with identical dust sources for each year and one with varying dust sources in order to investigate the contribution of dust sources and transport to the variability of dust concentrations in different regions. Specifically for the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean region, 70--90% of the dust variability is attributable to transport variability. Correlation coefficients between dust concentrations with precipitation and surface winds were calculated to find controlling factors for dust concentration for different regions of the world. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union