Sandstorms Set Off Environmental AlarmSandstorms that swept much of northern and eastern China in the past weeks have set off alarm of deteriorating ecology in the western areas, said China's most authoritative news weekly "Outlook".Over the past month, Beijing has been hit by six dust or sand storms. The worst of the storms descended upon the city yesterday, blotting out the sun and turning the sky dusty yellow. The dusty winds of forces up to 7-8 originated from the Mongolian Plateau reduced visibility and caused a major delay of flights at Capital Airport. "Sandstorms set off again the environmental alarm bells in China's west," declared a signed article from the April 10 issue of "Outlook magazine" which will hit newsstands tomorrow. During the past few weeks, gusty winds from the northwest moved through much of the country, blowing dust and sands into the capital and even down to the east provinces of Anhui and Shandong. Shanghai, the country's largest eastern industrial city, experienced a rare muddy rain, which meteorologists blamed on worsening ecological deterioration in the less developed northwest region of the country. "The nasty winds of dust and sands have again highlighted the urgency of environmental protection in China's west". Official statistics show that over the past few decades, desertification in the country has been deteriorating instead of improving. Before the 1980s, China's desertified land expanded at an average rate of 1,560 square kilometers a year. The figure rose to 2,100 square kilometers a year in the 1980s and to 2,460 square kilometers in 1994. "Land equivalent to the size of a mid-sized county is turned into desert every year," the article said. At present, the country's desert has grown to nearly 1.7 million square kilometers, or about 18 percent of the country's total landscape. And majority of the deserts are located in the country's western areas. In the hinterlands of the vast west, disastrous sandstorms or duststorms occur almost every year, experts said. However, in recent years, they became more frequent and caused more property and environmental damage. Excessive grazing and logging have been the major culprits of desertification of the grasslands and forests in China's north and western regions. One instance is the Horqin desert in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. About 15 years ago, it was a vast stretch of fertile grassland. Now, nothing is left but sand. To improve the environment of the western region, it is imperative to further prevent the deterioration of the environment. The deteriorating environment of the west not only impedes the western economic and social development, but seriously undermines the living conditions of the whole nation. "We all have a duty to act up and do our bit for the improvement of the country's ecology and environment," the article concluded. |
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