China’s sandstorm problem spreads to South Korea and Japan
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Beijing's concentration of fine particulates in the air is currently 46.2 times the World Health Organisation's annual air quality guideline value.
PHOTO: AFP
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BEIJING - Severe sandstorms that have been plaguing China for more than a month are now spreading to nearby regions, with dust particles affecting air quality from South Korea to Japan.
Fine dust particles from the Gobi Desert have been increasing in South Korea and could reach “very unhealthy” levels in Seoul as soon as Tuesday afternoon, according to AirKorea, which is managed by the nation’s Environment Ministry.
The sandstorms are forecast to reach Japan on Wednesday, affecting visibility in the central region that includes Tokyo, according to a forecast from the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The impact is spreading after sandstorms hit 18 provinces and cities in China on Monday night.
In Beijing, commuters biking home from work were caught off-guard by the sudden bursts of dusty wind, squinting to avoid grit stinging their eyes and having to wipe thin layers of yellow dirt from their faces when they got home.
State media reported that thick sandstorms will hit Beijing through Wednesday. The capital has seen regular air pollution and an unseasonal number of sandstorms over the past few weeks.
The concentration of fine particulates in the air in Beijing is currently 46.2 times the World Health Organisation’s annual air quality guideline value, according to IQAir, a website that issues air quality data and information.
A dozen provinces, including Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Hubei, Inner Mongolia and metropolis Shanghai, will be affected by sandstorms and major dust until 8am local time on Wednesday, the Central Meteorological Observatory said.
Chinese forecasters have warned citizens of respiratory dangers and very low visibility while travelling.
They have issued a blue weather alert warning for sandstorms. China has a four-tier, colour-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning and blue the least severe.
The sandstorms were again a hot discussion topic on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform, racking up 2.178 million chats.
One user wrote: “What! When I wake up, why doesn’t anyone issue a holiday notice, do you still have to go to work in the dust today!”
Beijing has regular sandstorms in March and April as it is near the large Gobi Desert. Dry weather has amplified the impact this time, causing widespread fires torching grasslands in Mongolia and forests in China’s Sichuan province.
A Chinese government official at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently said the number of sandstorms was now four times higher than in the 1960s, a consequence of rising temperatures and lower precipitation in the deserts of north China and neighbouring Mongolia. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
