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Events
Ferocious sandstorm blankets Beijing again, yellow warning issued www.globaltimes.cn
A sandstorm from outside northern China has enveloped Beijing, 13 days after the Chinese capital was hit by the largest sandstorm in a decade, but is lower in intensity and smaller in scope than last time as shelterbelts in Inner Mongolia helped reduce the amount of dust and prevented sand from drifting in.
There were few pedestrians and vehicles on Beijing’s roads, due to low visibility. The Air Quality Index reached the severest pollution level and visibility in the city dropped to one kilometer or worse.
China’s Central Meteorological Observatory activated yellow sandstorm warnings Saturday morning, forecasting that the strong sandstorm will impact more than 15 regions in northern China due to strong winds.
Analysts said that the reason why sandstorms frequently hit Beijing and sweep across China is that continuous dry climate in Mongolia and northwestern China tends to loosen soil, which forms sand and dust easily following the development of air convection and the exchange of air flows.
However, this wave of sandstorms is lower in intensity and smaller in scope as shelterbelts in Inner Mongolia have reduced the amount of dust and prevented sand from drifting, analysts said.
The sandstorm was also accompanied by ferocious winds. The city has experienced gusts of force 7 to 8, and gusts in mountainous areas soared to levels of force 8 to 10.
The visibility in Beijing ranged from 1 to 2 kilometers, and below 1 kilometer in some parts of the districts of Tongzhou and Fangzhou in Daxing.
The wave of strong sand and dust will last about12 hours from morning until nightfall Sunday, equivalent to the duration of the sandstorm that hit the city on March 15.
The temperature in Mongolia and northwestern China was significantly higher, the precipitation was lower and the surface had gradually thawed, making it easier for dust particles to drift, analysts said.
But unlike the last strong sandstorm which drifted to some provinces in South China, this wave of sandstorm has carried sands from the western and central parts of Inner Mongolia, coming with lower intensity and impacted a smaller area due to the protection from shelterbelts there, said Wang Gengchen, a research fellow at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Wang explained to the Global Times on Sunday that as some sand sources were from Inner Mongolia, shelterbelts have reduced the amount of dust and prevented sand from drifting, making the intensity of sand and dust lower than last time, adding that this sandstorm will not sweep central and southern China like the last wave did.
Experts said shelterbelts will reduce the amount of dust within the shelterbelt area, preventing sand from drifting, but it cannot stop remote desert and Gobi areas with forestation projects from having sand dust.
However, experts said that fundamentally overcoming dusty weather lies in global cooperation on prevention and control of sand sources, as expanding desertification in Mongolia and elsewhere will result in sand drifting into China’s territory whipped up by strong winds.
Satellite cloud pictures showed a large area of sand and dust starting to appear in Mongolia Saturday morning due to the impact of the Mongolian cyclone, and the air quality (AQI) of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, has deteriorated.
Global Times
Published Date:2021-03-28
