Record sandstorm in Beijing results in orange skies and poor air quality

Sand and dust from the Gobi Desert and parts of northwest China have thrown much of the Chinese capital of Beijing into yellow pollution – reducing air quality to dangerous levels, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and complicating the morning route for millions of passengers in what the authorities say is the worst sandstorm in a decade.

Much of the sand swept away from a sandstorm over the weekend in Mongolia that left six dead and more than 80 missing. On Monday morning, the Chinese National Meteorological Center announced a yellow alert for 12 provinces and cities, asking residents to close the windows and stay indoors if possible. As many passengers went to work, Beijing’s air quality was rated at the “dangerous” level 999 – emergency conditions according to the air quality index. Up to 100 are considered acceptable.

Beijing has often been plagued by some of the worst air pollution in the world, largely due to burning coal, although the country has seen some improvement in air quality in recent years as coal consumption has fallen and emission standards more rigid were established Place, put.

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But Monday’s sandstorm once again subjected Beijing residents to an almost breathless air. Air quality dropped to dangerous levels when tiny air pollution particles reached 655 micrograms per cubic meter of air – according to World Health Organization guidelines, anything over 25 is unsafe. If inhaled into the lungs, the particles can spread through the bloodstream to other organs, causing an increased risk of cardiovascular or respiratory problems.

The sandstorm created land transport problems as visibility dropped to just over 800 meters, causing major traffic jams and forcing some drivers to drive with their headlights on. The low visibility also caused headaches for those who intended to travel by plane, as the The Chinese state newspaper Global Times reported that 400 flights were canceled at two different airports in Beijing.

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Some Twitter users drew parallels between the scene in Beijing and the orange skies that surrounded much of the San Francisco Bay area last fall due to smoke from an unprecedented forest fire season.

Although sandstorms are common in Beijing at this time of year due to the city’s proximity to the Gobi Desert, which stretches from northern China to southern Mongolia, widespread deforestation and soil erosion have aggravated the problem.

In response, China in 1978 began building the Três Norte Belt Forest, also known as the Great Green Wall: a 3,000-mile stretch with 88 billion trees to be planted by thousands of volunteers over 50 years to protect the northern China from the Gobi Desert invasion.

On March 14, Reuters reported that China’s Environment Ministry expects sandstorms to disappear on Wednesday or Thursday, moving south towards the Yangtze River Delta. But in the meantime, Monday’s sandstorms are the latest environmental setback plaguing China, as the country’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2060 and align itself with the world’s major economies has been criticized for its slow pace.

For some activists, the link between China’s current environmental problem and the need to commit to faster changes to limit global warming is clearer than the air surrounding Beijing.

On March 14, Li Shuo, policy advisor for Greenpeace East Asia in Beijing, tweeted, “Beijing is what an ecological crisis looks like.” Noting the rapid deterioration in air quality, Li added: “It is difficult to say that we are moving forward when you cannot see ahead.”