Sandstorms blanket Beijing in yellow dust

[FarCenter]

AFP - Beijingers woke up Saturday to find the Chinese capital covered in a film of yellow dust, as sandstorms caused by a severe drought in the north of the country and Mongolia swept into the city.

The storm, which earlier lashed parts of northeastern China, brought strong winds and cut visibility in the capital.

Authorities issued a rare level five pollution warning, signalling hazardous conditions, and urged residents to stay indoors.

Dust storms frequently hit the arid north of China in the spring, when temperatures start to rise, stirring up clouds of dust that can travel across China, to South Korea and Japan and even as far as the United States.

<SNIP>http://www.france24.com/en/20100320-sandstorms-blanket-beijing-yellow-dust-0

[bigtree]

1. Beijing will eventually be a desert

Nearly one-third of China's territory -­ 50,000 villages and hundreds of cities -­ is plagued by rampant desertification.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/gobi-deserts-dunes-advance-on-beijing-682167.html

[WCGreen]

2. They are even undermining good old American dust...

Cheap dust from China is being "dumped" all over American dust.

Are we going to stand by and watch this blatant dumping of substandard dust on and in our country?

[Doremus]

3. Why don't they seed the clouds.

I thought the Chinese were able to seed the clouds to produce rain. Seems like now would be a good time. :shrug: