Heavy Sandstorms Sweep Through Mongolia and Northern China

A sandstorm from the Gobi desert hits a small city in Northern China. (Flickr)

Parts of Mongolia and Northern China have been blanketed with heavy sandstorms, resulting in extremely poor air quality, orange-tinted skies, and a handful of deaths. According to officials in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, the sandstorm began on March 13 and dissipated on March 15. However, heavy winds have carried the sandstorm into northern China, engulfing the capital city of Beijing.

Mongolian officials have confirmed nine deaths caused by the sandstorms, while Chinese officials have confirmed six. Cities in Mongolia and China have also filed dozens of missing person reports.

Beijing experienced its worst conditions on March 15, when the sandstorms created a heavy smog that turned the city’s skies to a rich orange-yellow hue, which significantly reduced visibility. City authorities mandated a stay-at-home order for children, the elderly, and the sick due to the dangerously high level of pollutants in the air. Hundreds of inbound and outbound flights were also canceled due to the inclement weather.

Flora Zou, a Beijing resident, described the ominous conditions, saying, “It looks like the end of the world. In this kind of weather I really, really don’t want to be outside.”

China’s weather bureau said that the combination of Mongolia’s dry season and cyclone-like winds have resulted in Beijing’s largest sandstorm in a decade. Although the northern region of China regularly experiences sandstorms as a result of its proximity to the Gobi desert, desertification and soil erosion in parts of Mongolia have increased the severity of the storms. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken steps to lead China down the path of a “green revolution,” reducing carbon emissions and gradually improving air quality in cities like Beijing over the past couple of years. Given these efforts, many were surprised that the city’s air quality reached such dangerous levels.

Ironically, a local edition of the People’s Daily from Inner Mongolia praised Xi’s environmental focus, covering his efforts to combat desertification in Mongolia. The article was published on March 15, the day Beijing was hardest-hit by the sandstorm.

Beijing has also built a “great green wall” of trees to combat the effects of the dust and sand storms. The city has even attempted to create air corridors that would channel the wind and clear away dust particulates more efficiently. 

Environmental officials in China are calling for even more environmental protection in order to prevent future catastrophic sandstorms. Li Shuo, a policy advisor for Greenpeace in Beijing, said, “Beijing is what an ecological crisis looks like.” While referencing the reduced visibility caused by the sand and dust particles, Li added, “It’s hard to claim we are moving forward when you can’t see in front.”