Why do sand and dust frequently occur?

Our reporter Guo Jingyuan

　　Starting from the afternoon of April 25, large-scale sand and dust weather once again affected many parts of our country.

Sand or floating dust occurred in central and western Gansu and western Inner Mongolia. Sandstorms occurred in Zhangye, Gansu and Alxa League in Inner Mongolia. From the night of the 26th to the day of the 27th, the northern China also experienced sand or floating dust. The Central Meteorological Observatory continued to issue sand and dust storm warning .

　　Why does the sand and dust weather come round after round this year?

What impact will this dusty weather have on my country?

In response to the sand and dust weather process, a reporter from the Economic Daily interviewed Gui Hailin, the chief forecaster of the Central Meteorological Observatory.

　　According to reports, the impact of this round of sand and dust weather includes the southeastern Xinjiang and southern Xinjiang basin, northwestern Qinghai, central and western parts of Gansu, central and western Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and many other northern regions. Among them, there are sandstorms in central Inner Mongolia.

　　"From the perspective of the intensity and scope of the sand and dust, the sand and dust weather this time is significantly weaker than the last April 15 process." Gui Hailin analyzed that the reason was that the Mongolian cyclone was located to the east and there was no moving path. Passing through a wide range of sand sources; secondly, the intensity of the cold air behind the Mongolian cyclone and its rear is weak, and strong winds in a wide range cannot smoothly blow the dust off the ground and transport it to higher altitudes, which is the driving force of the dust insufficient.

　　Since the beginning of this year, North China has encountered five large-scale sand and dust weather processes.

Gui Hailin said that in the spring, the temperature in the northern region has risen, the ground surface has thawed, and the soil is loose, and the geographical environment meets the conditions for sand and dust.

North China is adjacent to the arid and semi-arid regions of Central Asia. The dust mainly originates from these regions. When there are strong cyclones or strong cold air in the north, the windy weather system will be brought by strong winds when passing through the source of sand. Sandy weather that obscures the sky.

　　Will the dusty weather end after spring?

According to Gui Hailin, spring is a season where sand and dust are frequent, but sand and dust are not special products in spring, and there may still be sand and dust weather in summer.

　　Why do the public feel that sandstorms are more frequent and more intense this year than in previous years?

Will sandstorms become the norm in the future?

Gui Hailin said that this spring, Mongolia and my country's Inner Mongolia have continued to have high temperatures and less precipitation since mid-to-late February. In addition, since March, cyclone activity has increased significantly, and the cyclone and its trailing cold air path have positively affected North China. In the region, the distance from the source of sand to North China is short, so everyone feels that this year there is a lot of sand and dust, and the intensity is strong, and almost every time the dust has a significant impact on North China.

　　"Dust weather is actually a normal weather phenomenon in spring, and its amount is related to the specific weather system and underlying surface conditions." Gui Hailin said that after global warming, the increase in temperature and the decrease in precipitation are conducive to Desertification develops, so sand and dust increase.

According to data released by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration in June last year, my country's desertification control has achieved remarkable results since the "13th Five-Year Plan".

However, desertification is a global problem, which requires joint governance by all countries in the world, and the overall ecological environment has been significantly improved in order to effectively reduce its occurrence.

　　Guo Jingyuan