BEIJING (AP) — The strongest sandstorm so far this year has hit China's north, coating the capital with a thin dusting as residents awoke to orange-tinted skies.
Workers muffled their faces in vast Tiananmen Square as the city's weather bureau gave air quality a rare hazardous ranking.
The sand delayed some flights at Beijing's international airport, and prompted South Korean weather officials to issue a dust warning for Seoul.
China's expanding deserts now cover one-third of the country because of overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl and drought. The shifting sands have led to a sharp increase in sandstorms — the grit from which can travel as far as the western United States.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences has estimated that the number of sandstorms has jumped six-fold in the past 50 years to two dozen a year.
%@AP Links
<<APPHOTO XAW801 (03/20/10)>>
: In this photo taken on Friday, March 19, 2010, a woman covers her mouth during a sandstorm that hit in Lanzhou in northwest China's Gansu province. China's capital woke up to orange-tinted skies Saturday as the strongest sandstorm so far this year hit the country's north, delaying some flights at Beijing's international airport and prompting South Korean weather officials to issue a dust warning for Seoul.
