Sandstorms are blowing in trouble again. Sand has shrouded Beijing for five consecutive days, the longest period since 2002. Many parts of Northwest, North and Northeast China have been enveloped by sand. Strong sandstorms have even caused one death and stranded thousands of passengers in Turpan, of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in Northwest China.

Together with the sand is a most capricious change in temperature, which has left meteorologists confused. As a result, many Beijingers feel at a loss as to whether they should believe the weather forecast or not, since real temperatures have been some 10 degrees lower or higher than forecast over the past week.

Meteorologists blame a lack of rain and frequent cold currents for the sandstorms. But these factors are just part of the causes, not the root ones.

It is commonly known that the sand comes from areas where land has been deforested and soil has degraded into desert. But it is man who has cut down the trees and whose overuse of land has degraded the soil.

Some meteorologists believe that the frequency of sandstorms has dropped considerably compared with the 1950s because of global warming, which has reduced the gap between air pressure in the south and north in the spring. As a result, the chances of strong winds have reduced, resulting in fewer sandstorms in the northern part of the country.

Yet, other statistics report that the number of sandstorms has increased from seven during the 1960s to 22 during the 1990s.

Whatever the statistics, it is an undeniable fact that the grasslands of Inner Mongolia are degraded and the Qinghai-Tibet plateau environment where the country's two longest rivers, the Yangtze and the Yellow, originate has been deteriorating over the past several decades. Strong winds blow sand from these two areas and the vast desert within the territory of Mongolia to other parts of the country.

Another source of dust is the construction sites in almost all cities in the country, from where strong winds blow up dust and sweep the particles around causing serious air pollution.

Advanced as we humans are in terms of science and technology, we still have much to learn about the natural environment. We have a long way to go to develop our knowledge of changing weather patterns.

As far as sandstorms are concerned, what we can do is to hold back as much as we can the invasion of the desert and improve the environment in the country's northwestern areas where ecological conditions are fragile and soil degradation is relatively serious.

Only with efforts in these areas can we hopefully stop the scourge of sandstorms.

(China Daily 04/12/2006 page4)

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