Sandstorms Forecast on Northern China This Spring

Home>>Life

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 29, 2002

Sandstorms Forecast on Northern China This Spring

Sandstorms caused by consecutive droughts, the warm winter and El Nino are forecast to hit northern China this spring. Scientists from the State Forestry Administration and the China Meteorological Bureau said that the disastrous weather will probably be as severe as that of last year.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Fierce Sand Storm Hits NW China

Sandstorms are forecast to hit northern China this spring. Scientists from the State Forestry Administration and the China Meteorological Bureau said that the disastrous weather will probably be as severe as that of last year.

They attributed the storms to consecutive droughts, the warm winter and El Nino, but China's continuing afforestation efforts are expected to produce some positive results.

The northern part of China was hit by 32 sandstorms last year, 56 percent of which were whipped up in the southern part of Mongolia. The remaining 44 percent came mostly from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The desert in Mongolia, together with the desert in the eastern part of Kazakhstan, form one of the two major sources of the country's sandstorms.

Nearly one third of China's western regions, especially Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, are also experiencing serious desertification, making them another sandstorm source. The environment along the route of the storms determines their severity in north and northeast China.

To cope with sandstorms, Chinese scientists have called for a thorough implementation of the central government's policy of returning poor farmland to pasture in China's western areas. They also called for planting trees to create an anti-storm forest barrier.

Analysis: Nature Continues to Kick up a Storm

In recent years, it seems that sand storms are affecting Chinese people's lives more frequently and extensively. As this spring draws near, more sand storms are expected. Among the many Chinese scholars probing the reasons and controlling measures of the sand storms, Wang Shejiao, of the Northwest Historical Environment and Economic Social Development Research Centre under the Shaanxi Normal University, has put forward a rather unique view. (In Detail)

Questions?Comments? Click here

Sandstorms Tramples on Northern China

Beijing to Bid Farewell to Sandstorms in Ten Years