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hatrack

(59,558 posts)
Fri Apr 16, 2021, 08:08 AM Apr 2021

Springtime In Beijing: 3rd Major Sandstorm In 5 Weeks; PM10 Pegs Top Of Scale At 999

The third major sandstorm in five weeks turned Beijing’s skies sepia on Thursday, and sent air quality plummeting in the Chinese capital. The storms, caused by winds from drought-hit Mongolia and north-western China, sent levels of the pollutant PM10, which can penetrate the lung, to 999 micrograms per cubic metre – a level almost double the “hazardous” stage indicated by the Beijing air pollution real time quality index.

The World Health Organization recommends that levels not exceed 20 micrograms per cubic metre in a 24 hour period, and states: “There is a close, quantitative relationship between exposure to high concentrations of small particulates (PM10 and PM2.5) and increased mortality or morbidity, both daily and over time.”




EDIT

As the storm blew through Beijing, a team of forestry and meteorological government experts arrived in Inner Mongolia to conduct research into the sandstorms, the Global Times reported. Delegates from China’s arid Gansu region said in a proposal to parliament last month that over half of the dust storms that descend on China each year come from abroad, mainly from the south of Mongolia.

Beijing has been planting millions of trees along its border to block out sandstorms, part of a project known as the “Great Green Wall”.

Ed. - Yes, that's it! We'll just plant trees!!!

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/16/beijing-hit-by-third-sandstorm-in-just-over-a-month
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