N. China's sandstorm season is far from over
By Zhang Xuanchen |
March 25, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE weather experts warned that people in northern China may face another six to nine sandstorms in the next two months.
Severe dust and gales have already swept one seventh of China's land, engulfing 21 provincial areas, in the past two weeks.
The adusty spring will last longer this year, with more sandstorms than last year but still at the average level, said meteorological authorities in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a key source of the sandstorms, reported China News Service.
The upcoming cold spell in April, together with dry weather in northwestern China, will trigger the successive sandstorms, they said.
Five sandstorms have hit China this year, and another six to nine are to come, the national environmental administration said yesterday.
The largest sandstorm in past seven years hit China on March 19, shrouding north China in four days of clouds of grit and dust with poor visibility. Many people had to cover their faces with masks while going outside.
Twenty-three cities including Beijing and Shanghai suffered severe air pollution on March 21.
The central government put 3.77 million yuan (US$552,786) into a 2002 project aimed at curbing sandstorms in Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi and the Inner Mongolia.
An average of nine dust storms have roared up every year in the past decade.
They attributed the storms to the expanding deserts in China's north and west - the result of overgrazing, deforestation and drought.
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